July 22, 2003	Tuesday	Jumadi-ul-Awwal 21, 1424

TEL AVIV, July 21: The Israeli finance ministry has given the green light for Israeli companies to do business with Iraq, a country still officially at war with the Jewish state, military radio said on Monday.

Israeli companies can now export to, import from and invest in Iraq without facing any sanctions from the government, it said.

The decision was taken by Finance Minister Binyamin Netanyahu following a string of requests by Israeli companies wishing to develop business interests in post-Saddam Iraq, the radio said without elaborating.

In April, the Israeli national infrastructutre ministry mentioned the possibility of reopening a pipeline that used to link the northern Iraqi oil fields to the Israeli port of Haifa before the creation of the Jewish state.

An Iraqi oil official denied any such project. —AFP