The Arab League Summit reaches its climax today (Thursday) with the meeting of the heads of state, and so far the event is being seen as a success for Iraq and its Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki.
The hosting of this pretigious conference is a public relations coup for all concerned, and represents the acceptance of the new Iraq on the Arab stage.
In the process, many hotels and other facilities in central Baghdad have been modernised and refurbished, and at the time of writing, the extraordinary security efforts in the capital have kept the visitors safe.
According to some estimates, the summit will have cost Iraq $500 million even before factoring in the lost productivity of ordinary Iraqis during these days, at a time when the country is asking its Arab neighbours to write off some of its billions of debts.
We hope the summit will leave a lasting and positive legacy after all this effort and expense.
Comments are closed.