The Rumanian Industrial Fair at Baghdad was opened recently, with inaugural speeches from Iraqi Minister of Trade Abdul Latif Al-Shawaf and Rumanian Minister of Oils Zoeck. Colonel Fadhel Abbas Al-Mahdawi, President of the Baghdad People's Court and Lord Mayor of Baghdad, was one of the notables at the opening, which was also attended by a number of Iraq Government Ministers.

Col. Al-Mahdawi - a cousin of Iraq's Prime Minister Kassem - has come to fame since the revolution last year for his dictatorial behaviour in the People's Court. One of his latest acts was to promise there would be overwhelming documentary evidence against those charged with attempting to assassinate General Kassem on October 7.

Relations between Iraq and Rumania have become closer in recent months, since experts from Russia and other countries closely allied to the Soviet Union began arriving in Iraq to help advise on the numerous problems of Iraq's economy.