The U.N. team held in a Baghdad parking lot by Iraqi troops keeps in touch with the outside world using a sophisticated device called a "land-transportable" communications system, said Judith DelZoppo of theCommunications Satellite Corp.
The units, which cost between $36,000 and $45,000 depending on the manufacturer, include a telephone, fax machine, portable computer, radio modulator, small satellite dish and battery pack, she said.
Widely used by television organizations during the Persian Gulf war, land transportables pack into two suitcase-sized carrying cases and can be used from almost any point on Earth. The technology was developed for the U.S. military for global communications. It became available commercially several years ago.