Dubai, Mar 8 (UNI) Uproar among the Indian community in the UAE over bath towels bearing the image of India's national flag has led Unilever Arabia to withdraw all such towels from the local market.

An objection was also raised by the Indian Consulate which asked the company to withdraw the promotional product with immediate effect.

The towels with Indian tricolour were being distributed free along with consumer products in leading supermarkets here and in the northern emirates.

The product was designed to raise excitement around the upcoming Cricket World Cup.

''If we have inadvertently offended any persons, we apologise,'' said Rola Tassabeji, Corporate Communications Manager for Unilever, West Asia.

Unilever Arabia told Gulf News it never intended to offend anyone, and confirmed the Consulate had raised concerns over the use of the image of an Indian flag.

''Although Unilever Arabia had received permission to run this type of promotion locally, we have decided to respond to the Indian Consulate's concerns by removing from stores all promotional items carrying the image of the Indian flag,'' she added.

UNI