Madain, a town of some 7,000 inhabitants, was founded by the Parthian King Mithridates I more than 2,000 years ago

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Madain Baghdad Iraq Middle East Saddam Hussein Al Qaeda

Madain, a town of some 7,000 inhabitants, was founded by the Parthian King Mithridates I more than 2,000 years ago

Marwan Naamani

This file photo shows Iraqi special forces and police securing an area around the ruins of the ancient city of Cestiphon, in the town of Madain, 30 km south of Baghdad, in 2005. Suspected of being a biological weapons site under Saddam Hussein and later an Al-Qaeda stronghold, Madain wants to return to its previous status as a centre for archaeology and tourism.