First Tourists Visit Iraq Since War Began in 2003

BAGHDAD Ancient ruins aside, touring war-torn Iraq for the last two weeks hasn't been as satisfying as Tina Townsend Greaves had hoped.Not because of safety fears. To the contrary. More because some sights that the Briton wanted to explore during her two week visit have been closed. Greaves was one of eight visitors — including Britons and Americans — on the first officially sanctioned tour of Iraq outside the semiautonomous northern Kurdish region since the March 2003 U.S. invasion. "Sadly, we did not have the chance to see the museum or any of the monuments because they've been shut," Greaves said at her hotel Saturday morning, preparing to sight-see in other parts of Baghdad. Iraq's restored National Museum, which houses priceless artifacts from the Stone Age through the Babylonian, Assyrian and Islamic periods, reopened to the public on a limited basis last month but was closed Saturday. The trip was organized by a British adventure travel agency in the latest indication of security improvements.