Indian delegation arrested before meeting Iraq PM Abadi & Ayatollah Sistani

(IraqiNews.com) On Tuesday, an Indian newspaper revealed the Indian authorities arrested a delegation of Indian nationals in the Indira Gandhi Airport; they were heading to Iraq to meet with the supreme religious authority Ali al-Sistani and Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, and to provide humanitarian aid and launch a campaign against terrorism.

Indian newspaper ‘The Hindu’ wrote on its official website, followed by IraqiNews.com, “A delegation of Indian male volunteers—intended to travel to Iraq to provide humanitarian services—have been arrested and interrogated in the Indira Gandhi International Airport by intelligence and police officers in the airport.”

The newspaper added that, “The delegation composed of six people and led by the well known Shiite cleric Calpe Jawad and members of the Indian Shiite organization ‘Anjuman Heydari’, attributed the arrest to the actions of some rogue elements in the police and intelligence services, and insisting on their position that they were acting according to official protocol standards.”