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The Iraqi tourism board is planning to re-launch the country as a holiday destination. Hundreds of hoteliers and tourism officials are meeting this week to work out how to attract visitors to Baghdad, which was a cultural mecca as the capital of the Abbasid caliphate in the eighth century. But Iraq's cultural treasures are not what they once were. Enlarge Cultural mecca: The al-Askari shrine in Samarra was destroyed by bombing in 2006 Baghdad Museum was looted after the 2003 US invasion and American troops were accused of harming artifacts when they built a base on the site of Babylon. The al-Askari shrine, one of the holiest sites in Shia Islam was destroyed in a bombing in 2006. Hamood Massam al-Yakoubi, head of the tourism board, said: 'I would like tourists from around the world to visit because there is a lot to see.'... [read full story]
