Missile threat keeping Baghdad Airport closed: US commander http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20030911/wl_mideast_afp/iraq_us_airport&cid=1514&ncid=1480BAGHDAD (AFP) - The threat posed by surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) which fell into civilian hands after the collapse of Saddam Hussein's armed forces is still blocking the reopening of Baghdad Airport, the coalition ground forces commander revealed.
"A key issue here is the SAM threat, the SA-7 threat, out there," Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez told a news conference Thursday. "We have had some corroborated firings.
"We have got a buy-back programme that has been operational for some time," he said. "I guarantee you that we are out there looking for them, we are working that very hard.
"If we can put an end to that, we can open it (the airport) up. That would give a tremendous boost to the people and economy of Iraq."
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