Troops Sent in As Pay Row Shuts Baghdad Airport

Iraq's government sent troops today to try and reopen Baghdad's main airport, which closed earlier in the day because of a pay row with British security contractors.

However, the Iraqi troops retreated before reaching the airport after coming across an American military checkpoint.

Tonight the airport, the most reliable link between Iraq and the outside world, remains closed with all flights suspended, and the embarrassing dispute remains unresolved.

Global Strategies Group claims it has not been paid by Iraq's transport ministry for seven months.

It said it was maintaining security at the airport but suspending other security operations such as baggage checks, preventing planes from flying.

The Iraqi government was furious at the move by the British firm. The acting transport minister, Esmat Amer, said: "This issue is related to Iraq's sovereignty, and nobody is authorised to close the airport."

Later, after the move to send in Iraqi troops failed, the acting minister said: "We ordered the forces to pull back after American forces were deployed at the first checkpoint on the road. We did not want to create a confrontation."

Global said it would only continue to maintain its presence at the airport's perimeter fence and main checkpoint to protect it from insurgent attacks.

The Iraqi government has been trying to renegotiate a now-lapsed £3m monthly contract that Global had signed with the defunct US coalition provision authority. The firm has been operating the security at the airport since last summer.

The row was believed to be the first serious dispute involving a Western contract operation since the US-led invasion ousted Saddam Hussein more than two years ago.

Giles Morgan, a spokesman for the company, said the ministry "is not currently paying the company for the services it has rendered."

"We're in continuing dialogue and we're hoping it'll be resolved as soon as possible," Mr Morgan said. He declined to answer questions about the specifics of the dispute.

Airport officials say about 15 civilian flights use the airport daily for both domestic and international travel. The flights are operated by Iraqi Airways, Royal Jordanian Airlines and three companies operating out of the United Arab Emirates - Jobotier, Ishtar and Tigris airlines. Airport officials said they did not know how many civilian passengers were using the facility daily.

There is service between Baghdad and Basra, Sulaimaniya and Irbil in Iraq as well as Jordan, Syria and the UAE.

In June, Global suspended airport operations for 48 hours for the same reason.

The company also manages security at the heavily fortified Green Zone in central Baghdad - home to Iraqi government offices, parliament, and the U.S. Embassy. It has about 1,100 employees in Iraq - mainly former Nepalese and Fijian soldiers. Five hundred Global workers staff the airport.

The US has managed to keep its forces in Iraq - now at about 140,000 - from being a higher number by hiring out vast amounts of work the military normally would do to outside contractors.