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Three nuns among 30 Indians staying put in Iraq (LEADS) >From Indo-Asian News Service New Delhi, Mar 17 (IANS) Three nuns of Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity and four students are among some 30 Indian nationals who have decided to stay back in Iraq even as the Indian mission in Baghdad moved to Jordanian capital Amman. The nuns of the Kolkata-based Missionaries of Charity, who are working in Baghdad, and the four students in Najaf, one of the holy cities, decided to stay on despite the Indian government's advice to all nationals to leave Iraq, officials said. Others who had opted to stay back are eight charity workers in Karbala and 14 businessmen in various parts of Iraq. A control room has been set up in the ministry to render assistance to Indian nationals in the region if required, External Affairs Ministry spokesman Navtej Sarna said. With Indian Ambassador B.B. Tyagi and his staff of about 10 people moving to Amman Sunday, the chancery in Baghdad was being looked after by a "handful of Iraqi staff." Official sources said the seniormost among them was Saleh Ramadan, a member of the minority Kurd community. This will be the second time Ramadan, 70, who was re-employed following his retirement two years ago after serving the embassy for more than 40 years, will be holding fort for India in the Iraqi capital. He had played the role of the caretaker during the 1991 Gulf War too and the fact that he has been again asked to take care of the mission is an indication of the trust the Indian government has in him, the sources said. The Indians and other visitors to Iraq had to undertake an eight-hour road journey to Jordan as there are no regular flights to and from Baghdad because of U.N. sanctions. Indian military planes and naval ships are standing by in readiness for a massive evacuation of its nationals from the Gulf region if the war against Iraq breaks has spill over effects. There are more than 3.5 million Indians in the Gulf region. -Indo-Asian News Service _______________________________________________ Goanet mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.goanet.org/mailman/listinfo/goanet
