A major security conference, the Manama Dialogue, opens today in Bahrain at the Ritz-Carlton Bahrain Hotel and Spa.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will deliver a special address at the opening dinner of the Manama Dialogue tonight, which will be attended by His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince and Deputy Supreme Commander.

More than 600 delegates representing political and business interests from around the world are attending the three-day forum, which begins with a series of bilateral meetings.

They include prime ministers, foreign ministers, defence ministers, national security advisers and military and intelligence chiefs from more than 25 countries.

A major security operation surrounds the three-day conference, which is organised by the International Institute for Strategic Studies, and will tackle some of the key challenges facing the region – including the future of Yemen, Iraq, military co-operation and the role of foreign powers in regional conflicts.

The meeting, billed as the “most important regional security meeting in the Middle East and an excellent anchor for regional security diplomacy”, comes as US diplomacy reels amid a storm of anger from governments scrutinised in State Department cables published by WikiLeaks. - TradeArabia News Service