Western Tourist Reflects On Iraq Visit

Five Britons, two Americans and a Canadian have been visiting historic sites around Iraq — the first group of Western tourists to travel throughout the country since the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003.

Tina Townsend Greaves, of Yorkshire, England, has toured the country from the Kurdish regions in the north to Basra, in the south of the country. She says some of the highlights of her tour have been seeing Babylon, one of Saddam's palaces and locations in Baghdad.

Greaves has visited Karbala and Najaf, as well as mosques around the country. She says security hasn't been a major concern for her.

"We haven't had any security guards with us — we just traveled on the minibus — the eight tourists along with a driver and a translator. We kept a very low profile and we haven't had any concerns about security," she says. "There have been difficulties because of the problems here, but we have had the opportunity to meet local people — we've gone into the shops, we've gone into the teahouses, and people have been very gracious."