New Delhi: Government on March 21 directed customs officials to expeditiously clear goods of passengers returning from the Persian Gulf, which is in turmoil due to the war in Iraq.

"We have asked all commissioners and chief commissioners of customs to deal with the situation on humanitarian grounds. We have instructed them to clear all accompanied and unaccompanied baggages expeditiously," Central Board of Excise and Customs member S K Misra said.

The move comes hours after difficulty faced by some of the Indians after a conveyor belt carrying their baggages went out of order at Kuwait airport.

The Ministry of Civil Aviations has arranged for additional flights to the Gulf to enable Indians to return to their country.

Misra said the instruction have been sent to all the customs officials in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Cochin, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Ahmedabad.

The government would deal with merchandise imports in the same manner when situation demands so, he said.

Exports of some of the items would also have to be sent through different routes, he added.

PTI