Iraq grants amnesty to two Nepalis

The Iraqi government has granted amnesty to two Nepali nationals facing jail sentence there for illegally entry.

Rajesh Lama of Makwanpur and Gopal Sharma Amgai of Chitwan arrived home Monday night, Kantipur dainik said. The two were serving jail sentence for one and half year in Basra city. They were handed down five-year jail sentence for illegally entering Iraq.

They were taken to Baghdad and left there by their agents without visa, the report said.

The previous Baburam Bhattarai-led government had written letter to the Iraqi government, requesting for amnesty to them along with three others - Raja Ram Khakurel of Dhading, Prem Bahadur Singh of Kailali and Jit Bahadur Tamang of Nuwakot are still serving jail sentence in the war-torn country.

There are an estimated 30,000 Nepalis working in Iraq currently-- with hundreds of them staying there illegally. Nepalnews.com