With the impending war in Iraq, the Malaysian government is taking no chances and has flown home family members of its embassy staff there.

"Only eight staff members remain in the embassy now and they too will be flown home if the United States attacks Iraq," a Bernama report quoted Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar as saying today

He said the goverment was monitoring developments in the area through the Malaysian embassy and had worked out contingency plans for the remaining Malaysians in Iraq.