DATE=8/17/2000 TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT TITLE=IRAQ AIRPORT OPENS (L-O) NUMBER=2-265589 BYLINE=SCOTT BOBB DATELINE=CAIRO CONTENT= VOICED AT= INTRO: The government of Iraq has reopened its international airport outside Baghdad, saying it expects to receive international flights soon. But Correspondent Scott Bobb reports from our Middle East bureau that because of international sanctions, the opening is viewed as largely symbolic. TEXT: Baghdad's Saddam International Airport reopened (Thursday) amid ceremony and speeches, 10-years after it was closed by international sanctions against Iraq. An Iraqi military transport plane made a symbolic inauguration of the airport after a short flight from western Iraq. Transportation Minister Ahmed Murtada announced the facility can provide excellent services and is ready for international airlines. He said several friendly countries and humanitarian organizations have informed the government they want to begin flying to Baghdad. Reporters who toured the facility say it has been modernized, and the refurbished passenger terminal boasts new lounges and duty-free shops. The airport was closed after the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait that brought on the Gulf War. No commercial flight has landed there since then, and only a few humanitarian flights approved by the United Nations have been allowed. Nevertheless, there have been some unauthorized landings at the airport in recent years, as the government increasingly challenges the sanctions. The Iraqi government broke the embargo last year by transporting Muslim pilgrims on the Haj pilgrimage to Mecca. Haj flights the following year were authorized by the United Nations. Four-months ago, three Italians and a French priest landed at the airport without international authorization, in a gesture of support for the Iraqi people. Last week, the president of Venezuela used the airport to fly by helicopter to a border crossing near Iran. He was the first foreign head of state to visit Iraq since the Gulf war. Iraq's government-owned press says a group of French celebrities opposed to the sanctions are to make an unauthorized flight to Baghdad next month. And Iraqi media report Russia has said it might re-establish air links, if Iraq abides by U-N resolutions. The Iraqi government does not recognize the air embargo and says the economic sanctions are illegal. It has mounted a diplomatic and public relations campaign to have these lifted. Despite international sympathy for the suffering of the Iraqi people, support for an end to the air-travel ban has been weak. This is due in part to frequent attacks by U-S and British warplanes, which are enforcing no-fly zones over a large portion of Iraqi territory. (SIGNED) NEB/FSB/WTW/RAE 17-Aug-2000 11:53 AM EDT (17-Aug-2000 1553 UTC) NNNN Source: Voice of America .