=20 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This article was sent to you by someone who found it on SF Gate. The original article can be found on SFGate.com here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=3D/news/archive/2003/08/06/i= nternational0817EDT0500.DTL ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Wednesday, August 6, 2003 (AP) Germany company starts first direct flights from Western Europe to Afghanis= tan since Soviet invasion AMIR SHAH, Associated Press Writer (08-06) 05:17 PDT KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- A German airline flew civilians directly from Western Europe to Afghanistan's capital on Wednesday -- the first such flights since the former Soviet Union invaded this country more than two decades ago. An Airbus 330-200 with 101 passengers and 10 crew arrived in Kabul from Duesseldorf, where the German Lufttransport-Unternehmen air transport company is based, said the carrier's flight operations director, Josep Moser. "We intend to open a regular service between Germany and Kabul in order = to connect Afghanistan to the heart of Europe," Moser said. The airline will fly from Duesseldorf to Kabul every Wednesday. Most of the passengers on the debut flight were Afghans elated after arriving in their native country after years abroad. "I'm coming home to visit my family for the first time in 15 years," said Haji Rashid, an elderly man who'd been living in the Netherlands. "This is a very positive and proud time for all Afghans." Afghanistan struggles to emerge from a quarter-century of warfare that continues in parts of the country, with Taliban rebels and their allies waging a low-level insurgency against coalition forces and the government. But Moser said the situation was now "stable enough to attract businessmen, politicians and many other people to travel to Kabul." The German commander of the 5,000-strong peacekeeping force that patrols the capital, Lt. Gen. Norbert van Heyst, said the flight was another sign that security in Kabul was improving. "I'm sure that this first flight also will start a kind of competition with the great European airlines," he said. Lufttransport-Unternehmen owns 28 aircraft, most used for chartered flights, said Frank Peters, the airline's security manager. The international airport in Kabul is guarded by peacekeepers and Afghan soldiers. It is used by both military and civilian aircraft. =20 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright 2003 AP