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Baghdad Airport Closed In Row Over Unpaid Bills


9 September 2005 (RFE/RL) -- Global Strategies Group, the British company that polices Baghdad's airport, closed it to passengers today for the second time in three months due to what it says are months of unpaid bills.

A spokesman for Global Strategies Group, Giles Morgan, said the company, which has guarded the airport since the middle of 2004, has not been paid for seven months. He said the London-based firm is continuing to secure the airport, but normal airport operations will not resume until an undisclosed payment is made.

A spokesman for Iraq's Transport Ministry told Reuters that the problem will be resolved "within hours."

Global Strategies suspended operations in June for similar reasons. The company is one of many private companies providing services to the military, government, and private organizations in Iraq.

(Reuters/AP)

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