First Western tour group in post-Saddam war-torn Iraq

The first official Western tour group to enter Iraq since the US-led invasion six years ago has visited historic and religious sites in the country, according to the tourism ministry.

"This visit is a positive sign for the return of touristic activity to Iraq," ministry spokesman Abdul Zahra al-Telagani said of the five Britons, two Americans and a Canadian on a trip organised by a British operator.

"It reflects the improvement in the security situation. This is a message to the whole world that the new Iraq is now ready to return to a normal situation with security and stability," he said.

Security has improved dramatically since early last year, although suicide attacks and bombings remain a daily occurrence.

At least 449 people were killed in Iraq in the first two months of this year, the lowest figure since the 2003 invasion.

The eight men and women flew into Baghdad International airport on March 8. Armed guards dressed as civilians were protecting the group which left yesterday, Mr Telaghani said.

Their trip south of Baghdad included Babylon - site of the Tower of Babel - and the holy Shiite pilgrimage centres of Najaf and Karbala.

The tourists also travelled north of the capital to Samarra, site of the golden-domed Al-Askaria mosque, and the Kurdish city of Arbil.

"The group applied for permission before starting this tour," Mr Telaghani said. He did not name the British tour company.

Iraq, under UN sanctions for much of the 1990s, has been off limits to Western tourism for many years, and no international hotel chains currently operate inside the country.

However religious tourists, particularly Shiites from neighbouring Iran, continue to visit major holy sites.

Boasting the world's third largest known petroleum reserves, Iraq is trying to diversify revenues and religious tourism is a target sector.

Oil sales contribute 98 per cent of Iraqi state revenues, and falling crude prices have have played havoc with government budgets.