Over 200 more Indians to return from Iraq on Wednesday

NEW DELHI: A batch of over 200 Indians will be reaching here tomorrow from the conflict-hit Iraq, taking the total number of compatriots who have come back to nearly 2,300.

According to the Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson, the group of more than 200 Indians will arrive from Najaf at the Indira Gandhi International Airport tomorrow afternoon.

Those coming back include 200 Indian workers of an Iraqi firm in Karbala who were initially believed to have been kidnapped.

The spokesperson said it was a case of labour dispute. The workers had decided not to stay in the company premises after which the Embassy officials stepped in and arranged their travel to Najaf.

"They are with the Embassy and we hope to bring them back tomorrow along with some others", the spokesperson said.

There were about 10,000 Indians before the start of the serious strife between government troops and Sunni militants backed by al Qaida in Iraq.

With MEA facilitating the departures, it is estimated that there are about 7500 Indians in the non-conflict zones left.

Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis have been displaced in the fighting that broke out on June 10.