On Friday October 2, 2009 the Cultural Advisor from the Embassy of Iraq in Rome Prof. A.M. Taleb visited the International Centre for Theoretical Physics Abdus Salam.

In the occasion, Prof. A.M. Taleb with Dr. Ahmed Zainy met the Director of the International Centre for Theoretical Physics Prof. K.R. Sreenivasan and the responsibles of the TRIL Programme, Prof. Giuseppe Furlan and Prof. Daniele Treleani.

The purpose of the meeting was the signature of a Collaboration Agreement between the ICTP and the Iraqi Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Researches (MOHESR) to support the research in the fields of Lasers, Optical Communications, Renewable energies, Earth and Environmental Sciences, Medical Physics and Technological Research, by allowing Iraqi Faculties and Postgraduate Students to visit Italian Laboratories through the ICTP Programme of Training and research in Italian Laboratories (TRIL).

The agreement was signed by the Director of the ICTP Prof. Sreenivasan and by the Cultural Advisor from the Embassy of Iraq Prof. Taleb. A liaison Committee was established for the implementation of the agreement, which will allow a maximum of 15 months/person will be assigned each year. As representatives of the two Institutions in the ICTP-MOHESR liaison Committee Prof. A.M. Taleb and Dr. Ahmed Zainy were appointed for the MOHESR while Prof. Giuseppe Furlan and Prof. Daniele Treleani were appointed for the ICTP.

The liaison Committee met immediately after the signature of the Collaboration Agreement and, after considering the actual applications of Iraqi Scientists to TRIL, fellowships were awarded to Prof. Yas Al-Hadeethi to work with Prof. Dimitri Batani at the Department of Physics “G.Occhialini" of the University Milano-Bicocca and to Ms Sora F. Abdalah, to work with Prof. R. Meucci at INOA-Florence.