Iraq's Deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz flew to Syria yesterday on the first direct flight abroad by a Baghdad cabinet minister - apart from on the annual pilgrimage - since UN sanctions were imposed in 1990.

Aziz's flight to Damascus, which is also the first direct one from Iraq to Syria in nearly two decades, raises the stakes still further in Baghdad's challenge to the UN sanctions prompted by Iraq's invasion of Kuwait.

However, Aziz denied that Iraq had defied the sanctions by starting to pump oil to Syria through a repaired pipeline. Asked about his decision to fly to Damascus instead of following ministers' previous post-sanctions practice by travelling overland from Baghdad to Jordan or Syria before flying on to international destinations, Aziz said:

"This is natural (to come by plane)...There's no ban on civil aviation travel. This is an American lie that was imposed by America during the last year," Aziz said. "Before 1990 we used to travel normally...Now we are travelling normally," he added after talks with Syrian Foreign Minister Farouq Al Shara.

Dozens of civilian flights have arrived in the Iraqi capital in recent weeks from Arab and other countries, including France and Russia, who contend the UN sanctions do not ban civilian air travel. Flights must normally be notified to the UN Security Council's sanctions committee.

Aziz's trip to Damascus also marks a milestone in Iraq-Syria relations. Syria and Iraq, ruled by rival factions of the Baath Party, severed diplomatic ties after the outbreak of the 1980-1988 Iraq-Iran war in which Damascus sided with Tehran. They agreed to restore relations and engage in economic cooperation three years ago.

Asked about reports that Iraq had started to ship 150,000 barrels per day of crude oil to Syria via a pipeline that was rehabilitated for reopening after an 18-year closure, Aziz said: "I have no knowledge on that."

Replying to a question about U.S. and British threats to Baghdad if it went ahead with the reopening of the pipeline without getting the necessary UN approval Aziz said: "America always makes threats. We do not fear these threats."

Until recently under the sanctions regime, Iraqi government ministers have only taken direct flights abroad to take part in the annual pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia. Aziz said he would leave later in the day for Moscow on his way to China on an official visit.

A Syrian foreign ministry spokesman said the talks between Aziz and Shara included discussion on two months of Palestinian-Israeli violence that has claimed at least 270 lives, mostly Palestinian.

Syria has already sent several planes with humanitarian aid for Baghdad. Several ministers also visited Iraq for talks on economic cooperation in line with the so-called oil-for-food deal between Iraq and the UN.

Officials said the Iraqi airways office in Damascus, closed since 1982, was reopened yesterday. Syria sided with Tehran during the Iraq-Iran war and joined a U.S.-led multinational force that drove Iraqi troops out of Kuwait in 1991. But Damascus has joined Arab calls for the removal of UN sanctions.

Officials said that both countries were planning to double their commercial exchange to around $1 billion a year. Iraq was also planning to double its imports through Syrian ports to one million tonnes a year.

A railway link between the two neighbours was reopened recently after years of closure. Shara said last week Iraq's diplomatic interests section at the Algerian embassy in Damascus would be developed into a full diplomatic representation office soon.