Renovation work has begun on Baghdad airport's second runway, in order to increase traffic capacity, airport manager Ma'mun Mohidine al-Nasseri said Monday.
He said lighting was being installed on the runway to enable planes to operate at night.
Baghdad's airport was not used for ten years because of the embargo imposed by the United Nations on Iraq after it invaded Kuwait in August 1990.
It was inaugurated again in August 2000, and dozens of planes have landed in Baghdad since then, as part of Iraq's efforts to break the embargo.
The interpretation of the embargo has been a divisive issue among the members of the UN Security Council.
Unlike the US and the UK, Russia, China and France argue that the UN resolution against Iraq does not require an embargo on flights which do not involve any financial or commercial transaction -- BAGHDAD (AFP)
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
