19 September 2004	Sunday	03 Shaban 1425

BAGHDAD, Sept 18: National carrier Iraqi Airways resumed international commercial flights for the first time in 14 years on Saturday, flying between Amman, Baghdad and Damascus, although with few passengers on board.

The white and green striped Iraqi Airways plane from Amman touched down on the dull grey tarmac of Baghdad international airport in the blue haze of a September morning.

But it was an inauspicious return to the skies for Iraqi Airways. On that first flight there were no passengers at all, because the resumption of operations was announced too late for tickets to be sold, said airline official Fathi Nassar.

The airline had been effectively grounded since Iraq's 1990 invasion of Kuwait and the subsequent UN sanctions.

The company has one functioning Boeing 737 plane, a survivor of Iraq's years-long status as an international pariah.

From Baghdad, the plane left for Damascus, with its first passengers - an official delegation - in celebration of its comeback.

"All this we have done without any help from the Americans or the government," an official said.-AFP