Iraq Controls Airspace for 1st Time since 2003 Invasion

Iraq this month took responsibility for all of its airspace for the first time since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, the U.S. embassy in Baghdad said on Wednesday.

"On October 1, 2011, the U.S. Air Force (USAF) transferred management of the Baghdad/Balad Airspace sector to the Iraq Civil Aviation Authority (ICAA)," said an embassy statement.

"Iraq's air traffic controllers are now directing the movement of all aircraft within the area, the busiest and most complex airspace in Iraq.

"With this step, Iraq has assumed full air traffic control responsibility for the country's airspace for the first time since 2003," it added.

Iraq is currently weighing its options on a post-2011 U.S. military training mission. The roughly 41,500 U.S. soldiers still in Iraq are currently required to withdraw from the country by year's end.