100,000 Troops to ensure safety at Arab Summit

A high level Iraqi security source, has told Arabstoday that the security plan to ensure the safety of the Arab delegations  attending the Arab League Summit, planned for the end of March, is finalised,  revealing that about 100,000 troops will be mobilised, stressing that the security plan will involve Iraqi troops only. A decision to impose a curfew has not yet  been confirmed. Security operations' Chief of Staff, Lieutenant-General Hussein al-Baydani, told Arabstoday that preparations for the security plan for the Arab League Summit began two years ago,  ahead of a proposed meeting last year,  but this  was postponed due to the unsuitable political climate in the region. al-Baydani revealed that an air embargo will be applied at Iraq's airports during the period of the Summit,  with the exception of the airports at al-Najaf and Erbil, to eliminate any aerial threats that may require the involvement of the military air force. In the same context, Baghdad's traffic administration has confirmed that certain roads in the Iraqi capital will be closed to citizens during the Summit to further ensure the safety of the visiting delegations. Iraq has hosted two previous Arab League Summits. The first was in 1978 in which the Arab countries decided against the Camp David Treaty between Egypt and Israel, and to boycott all  Egyptian institutions which had dealings with Israel. The second was in 1990, which was boycotted by Syrian President Hafez al-Assad on the back of the Syrian-Iraqi controversy concerning the conflict between both countries regarding the leadership of Iraq's  al-Baath Party in the Arab World, and Syria's support for Iran in the 8-year war between Tehran and Baghdad. This Summit also witnessed remarkable tension between Iraq and both Kuwait and the UAE, which resulted in the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in the months following the Summit. The invasion caused Iraq's absence from further Arab League Summits until the year 2003.