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UAE moves 110 nationals to Syria

DUBAI — More than 110 UAE nationals have been evacuated safely from Lebanon to Syria as the sectarian violence in Beirut continued for the third day.

UAE Ambassador to Lebanon Mohammed Sultan Al Suweidi told Khaleej Times yesterday the embassy was surrounded by roadblocks as violent clashes and fires broke out nearby.

Al Suweidi said the embassy had taken the initiative to evacuate all its registered citizens and any others who had approached the embassy for help.

“The situation is risky. We hear clashes and fires day and night,” he said. “Moving to those people is very difficult because all the roads are blocked and the situation is very unstable. It’s very difficult to evacuate people but we do this incoordination with the UAE embassy in Syria.”

Al Suweidi said the embassy would help evacuate many others who were expected to contact the staff during the weekend.

Evacuees were being shifted by land routes as Beirut International Airport has been closed since Wednesday.

Al Suweidi said the UAE nationals arrived in Syria uninjured and were able to stay in Syria or make their way to the UAE of their own accord, with some nationals expected to arrive here late last night. Etihad Airways spokesperson Thomas Clarke said the airline, which operates six weekly flights to Damascus, yesterday increased its passenger capacity on the Damascus-Abu Dhabi flight to accommodate extra passengers as a result of the conflict in Lebanon.

“We upgraded the Damascus flight from the Airbus A319 to A320 yesterday for extra passengers,” Clarke said.

“We will re-evaluate the situation tomorrow.” Emirates was unable to detail whether the airline’s flights to Damascus had been increased.

“Because of the ongoing situation in Lebanon, all Emirates’ flights between Dubai and Beirut for Saturday and Sunday remain cancelled,” a spokesperson said. “The situation will be reviewed again on Sunday.”

Bahrain’s national carrier, Gulf Air, also upgraded its flight yesterday to Damascus to fly out Bahrainis, who travelled by road from Beirut to Syria, as a result of the ongoing situation in Lebanon.