US warns of Baghdad airport "security incident"

BAGHDAD, Mar 12 (Reuters) A ''security incident'' at Baghdad airport prompted the U.S. embassy to bar employees from using commercial flights today.

Unconfirmed reports from private security contractors in the Iraqi capital said explosives had been found before they were loaded onto a commercial airline flight yesterday. But Iraq's Transport Ministry flatly denied any such incident took place.

The British-based firm which runs security at the airport said it would issue a statement later.

The airport is Baghdad's main link with the outside world because of the dangers of road travel.

''As the result of a recent security incident at the Baghdad International Airport (BIAP), the U S Embassy is prohibiting outgoing travel by all U.S. government employees on commercial airlines departing BIAP until further notice,'' the embassy said in a consular notice distributed in Baghdad.

An embassy spokeswoman declined further comment.

Transport Ministry spokesman Ahmed Moussawi said: ''No explosives were found. This report is untrue ... Nothing happened.'' Iraqi Airways runs flights from Baghdad to a number of domestic and international destinations. Among the most popular routes for foreigners is a twice-daily link to the Jordanian capital Amman operated by Royal Jordanian Airlines.

Baghdad airport is surrounded by the main U.S. military base in Iraq. Explosives were once found on an airliner before take-off and a cargo jet was struck by a missile and narrowly avoided crashing.

Planes landing and taking off perform a dizzying corkscrew manoeuvre to gain or lose height rapidly before leaving the boundaries of the airport in order to avoid missiles.

REUTERS KD VC2134