General Sir Richard Dannatt, the Chief of the General Staff, who caused alarm bells at the Ministry of Defence last year after revealing his concerns about the continuing presence of British troops in Iraq, is to be the main speaker.
Whitehall insiders said that the MoD was worried that the conference, which was to have been open to the press, could generate unpalatable headlines in the newspapers the next day.
One Whitehall source said: "The organisers of the conference have had their hands tied by the MoD and there is nothing they can do about it. The MoD has had a bad year and they don't want something coming out of the conference which will cause more trouble."
Other Whitehall sources said that a conference with such important speakers was bound to attract interest, and it was "counter-productive" to stop journalists attending.
