Iraq 'wants to buy 20 Airbus jets'

Iraq is reported to be planning to buy twenty new Airbus passenger aircraft to help relaunch the national carrier, Iraqi Airways.

An Iraqi newspaper Al Ittihad said negotiations with the aircraft manufacturer Airbus Industrie would open soon.

But a spokesman for Airbus in France David Vellupillai played down the report.

He told the BBC that Iraq had for some time had a wishlist of planes it was considering buying.

He said Airbus would also abide by the United Nations economic embargo on Iraq, which prohibits such commercial transactions. Despite the sanctions which have been in place for ten years, Baghdad re-opened its international airport last month.

Russia has already sent two planes to Baghdad since then and is planning a regular passenger service.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service