Baghdad holds international anti-terrorism conference
According to the conference organizers, Saudi Arabia and Qatar were invited, but didn’t attend, despite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's accusing of them of supporting terrorism.
The Iraqi government held a conference on combating international terrorism on March 12-13 in Baghdad, in which it suspended its official work on the opening day of the conference. Although the official reason for the suspension was “to complete the distribution of electoral cards for state employees,” some observers interpreted the move as aiming to evacuate Baghdad so that the guests could enjoy the conference without hearing loud explosions around the capital every day and to protect the conference site from a security breach.
The Iraqi security forces closed several main roads and the security checkpoints intensified car searches.
