RAFHA, 10 December 2003, 10 December 2003 — More than 400 Iraqi refugees have left the Rafha refugee camp in northern Saudi Arabia after spending 13 years there. According to Al-Eqtisadiah, a sister publication of Arab News, the group left in a convoy of eight buses and 11 trucks for Kuwait, where authorities will take charge of the refugees before handing them to British forces who control southern Iraq. Brig. Gen. Khaled ibn Fahd Al-Wasseifer, who runs the camp, said the refugees were given various sums of money to help them support themselves on their return. Several groups of Iraqis have returned home since the Saddam Hussein regime was ousted. The refugees thanked the Saudi government for hosting them for the past 13 years.
