BJP leader meets Iraqi ambassador, wants stranded Indians evacuated

BJP leader Vijay Jolly Saturday met Iraqi ambassador Ahmed T.S. Berwari and submitted a memorandum demanding the immediate evacuation of Indians stranded in various cities of Iraq seized by Sunni insurgents.

"We express our great concern on the safety and security of Indians caught up in the civil war in Iraq and are deeply concerned by the precarious security scenario in Iraq," said the memorandum submitted on behalf of Overseas Friends of Bharatiya Janata Party (OFBJP), whose convenor is Jolly.

"Executions, abductions, gruesome killings are inhuman. But the civil war waged upon your country by Islamic militia in Iraq is unacceptable."

"We consider Iraq as a close friend of India. But the kidnapping of Indians is unacceptable. We demand that the government of Iraq should ensure immediate evacuation of Indians - safely and securely," said the memorandum.

Over 200 men, mostly youth, from Punjab are stuck in the oil-rich nation which is witnessing fighting since early June as militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) have taken over key Iraqi cities.

Over 40 Indians, mostly from Punjab, were kidnapped by insurgents June 11 in northern Iraq's Mosul town while 46 Indian nurses, mostly from Kerala, are stranded in Tikrit.