Iraq's cabinet has given its nod to a plan aimed at repairing the airport in the southern port city of Basra, the official INA news agency reported Tuesday.
The government approved the housing and construction ministry plan, details of which were not revealed, during its weekly meeting on Monday chaired by President Saddam Hussein.
A delegation from Dubai's civil aviation department signed several contracts with Baghdad in November 1999 for converting Basra airport into an international terminal and training several Iraqi technicians in Dubai.
Iraq's transport ministry said on July 25th that repairs were currently underway at Baghdad's Saddam International Airport to modernize it to handle the eventual resumption of air traffic halted since the 1991 Gulf War over Kuwait.
Iraqi Airways, grounded since sanctions were imposed on Iraq for its 1990 invasion of Kuwait, has been sending pilots and technicians to Malaysia and Jordan to train on planes built by the European consortium Airbus.
Russia is studying the possibility of resuming flights to Iraq "by the end of the year" in exchange for a commitment from Baghdad to implement UN Security Council resolutions, according to the London-based Arab newspaper Al-Hayat – BAGHDAD (AFP)
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
