Iraq detects 571 citizens at Belarus-Polish border

By Hamdi Yildiz

BAGHDAD (AA) - Iraq announced Monday that 571 Iraqi citizens have been detected in eight camps on the border between Belarus and Poland.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmed Al-Sahhaf said it is not possible to know the exact number of Iraqis there since the border length of the mentioned countries is 680 kilometers (422 miles).

He said the country is planning to send its first flight on Nov. 18 to repatriate Iraqis who want to return voluntarily.

Noting that the government did not have the means to prevent its citizens from going to another country from abroad, Sahhaf said that after coordination with Turkey, Iraqis were prevented from going to Belarus and they had started coordinating with other countries.

The Iraqi government announced last August that 690 citizens who had stayed in the border area between Belarus and Lithuania were brought back.