HOW TO ESCAPE THE TOURIST HORDES:

Who has the toughest job in the world? It might just be Hamood Massam al-Yakoubi, the head of the Iraqi Tourism Board. Yes, Iraq really does have a tourism industry and last week al-Yakoubi met with about 200 other tourism operators, hoteliers and officials for a conference to discuss ways to lure back the tourist dollars that once came from around the world. Last year 95 percent of visitors to Iraq were religious tourists from Iran.The other 5 percent must have booked the wrong holiday by accident. (Times Online)