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Preparations in Saudi Arabia to receive Kuwait Indians >From Indo-Asian News Service Dubai, Mar 22 (IANS) Indian officials have made preparations to receive the expected influx of refugees from Kuwait to Saudi Arabia, said an official from the Indian embassy. Kuwait is sandwiched between Saudi Arabia and Iraq and during the last Gulf War many Indians crossed from Kuwait into the Saudi Arabian border town of Khafji. Though no Indians have come to Khafji yet, officials are preparing for them. Riyadh Zikrur Rahman, first secretary at the Indian embassy in Riyadh, visited Khafji and stayed there for three days to assess the situation. He said no Indians had arrived at Khafji yet, located 129 km away from Kuwait City. "We saw a large-scale migration of Indians from Kuwait to Khafji during the 1990-91 Gulf War and this could happen again. In any case we don't want to take any chances," he said. There are 360,000 Indians in Kuwait. During the 1991 Gulf War, most Indians who crossed over to Saudi Arabia were sheltered at the then Indian embassy school in Dammam, near Khafji, and later repatriated to India. Rahman said embassy officials would coordinate with Saudi Arabian authorities to secure a smooth transit for Indian refugees. "We have completed all the logistics for their fast and smooth transportation to India via Dammam." --Indo-Asian News Service _______________________________________________ Goanet mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.goanet.org/mailman/listinfo/goanet
