Arbil governor Nuzad Hadi told AFP that the border restrictions were lifted at the beginning of the month.

"We have taken new measures since December 1 to facilitate entry into our region," Hadi said, adding that the restrictions had been imposed for security reasons.

"We have built border posts at the entrance to our territory and we have trained a large number of Assayash (security) agents on using computers to verify the identity of travellers and question them," he said.

Travellers to the Kurdish autonomous region will be given a residence permit which they must return when they leave the area, he added.

In November 2006, Kurdish authorities decided to limit the number of Iraqis entering their region to flee sectarian violence between Sunnis and Shiites across the country.

The conditions imposed to enter Kurdistan included a residence card that had to be renewed monthly, a guarantee of recognition issued by a Kurdish official and a pledge from Kurds that they were hosting Iraqi refugees.