Iraq hosts international anti-terror meet amid ongoing violence

International diplomats gathered in Iraq on Wednesday for the country’s first-ever international counter-terrorism conference, held in Baghdad.

The two-day meeting is set to tackle topics such as international cooperation in fighting terrorism and media censorship on the subject. Attendants will also discuss how to deal with the ideology that fuels terrorism.

In the meeting, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki delivered a speech in which reviewed the phenomenon of terrorism in Iraq since 2003.

“If the slogan upon which suicide bombers falsely fight upon is jihad, the real aim is to eliminate the government in Iraq,” he contended.

He then demanded that the international community take quick, deterrent, measures to protect Iraq. He called for intelligence cooperation among the region’s countries to pursue terrorist organizations and said that countries should work together to target the finances of terrorist groups.

Most recently, the country is fighting against extremist forces operating in the Anbar province, home to Ramadi and Fallujah.

The Anbar stand-off comes amid a protracted surge in violence, with security forces also grappling with near-daily attacks nationwide.

Earlier, the spokesman of the conference Lieutenant General Qasim Atta told reporters that Iraq had extended invitations to countries and world organizations; including the United Nations, the Arab League, the European Union, the African Union and the Organization of Islamic Conference among others.

Violence in Iraq has killed more than 1,800 people since Jan. 1, 2014, according to AFP figures based on security and medical sources.