.First Asian tour group in post-Saddam Iraq
BAGHDAD (AFP) — The first official Asian tour group to enter Iraq since the US-led invasion of 2003 is visiting historic and religious sites in the country, the tourism ministry said on Saturday.
The group of 18 people from Taiwan arrived in the Iraqi capital on May 5 for a week-long tour of the country, ministry spokesman Abdul Zahra al-Talaqani told AFP.
Their intrepid visit follows on the heels of one in March by a Western tour group, which was the first since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein's regime.
Security in Iraq has improved dramatically since late 2007, although suicide bombings and other attacks remain a near-daily occurrence.
Talaqani said the tourists had visited sites in Baghdad, including the shrine of Imam Kadhim and the National Museum, which reopened in February after looting devastated many of its priceless relics.
They also visited ancient Babylon and the religious monuments in Karbala before travelling to the shrine city of Najaf, he said.
They will also visit Warka in Samawah, a Mesopotamian city dating back five millennium, and Ur, the Biblical birthplace of Abraham.
Tourism to Iraq was already much reduced under Saddam's regime in the 1990s when the country was subject to crippling UN sanctions.
There are still no international hotel chains operating inside the country.
However large numbers of Shiite pilgrims visit the country's shrine cities each year, particularly from neighbouring Iran, despite the persistent threat of violence from Sunni extremists.
Boasting the world's third largest known petroleum reserves, Iraq is trying to diversify its revenues and tourism is viewed as key growth sector.
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The group of 18 people from Taiwan arrived in the Iraqi capital on May 5 for a week-long tour of the country, ministry spokesman Abdul Zahra al-Talaqani told AFP.
Their intrepid visit follows on the heels of one in March by a Western tour group, which was the first since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein's regime.
Security in Iraq has improved dramatically since late 2007, although suicide bombings and other attacks remain a near-daily occurrence.
Talaqani said the tourists had visited sites in Baghdad, including the shrine of Imam Kadhim and the National Museum, which reopened in February after looting devastated many of its priceless relics.
They also visited ancient Babylon and the religious monuments in Karbala before travelling to the shrine city of Najaf, he said.
They will also visit Warka in Samawah, a Mesopotamian city dating back five millennium, and Ur, the Biblical birthplace of Abraham.
Tourism to Iraq was already much reduced under Saddam's regime in the 1990s when the country was subject to crippling UN sanctions.
There are still no international hotel chains operating inside the country.
However large numbers of Shiite pilgrims visit the country's shrine cities each year, particularly from neighbouring Iran, despite the persistent threat of violence from Sunni extremists.
Boasting the world's third largest known petroleum reserves, Iraq is trying to diversify its revenues and tourism is viewed as key growth sector.
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