UAE to fly nationals home

Abu Dhabi: Some UAE families have left Lebanon for the UAE via Damascus airport following intensified Israeli attack on Beirut's airport and army bases.

The UAE Embassy in Beirut supervised the transfer of UAE nationals by cars, offering facilities for safety of the families, a WAM report said.

"The embassy has taken all the appropriate measures for transporting UAE nationals," said Mohammad Sultan Saif Al Suwaidi, the UAE Ambassador in Beirut.

Some UAE nationals left for for home via the Syrian capital Damascus on Thursday night and have already arrived back in the UAE.

The evacuations are under the directives of President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and the follow-up efforts of His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai and Shaikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Foreign Minister.

Shaikh Abdullah Bin Zayed has reportedly been on the telephone constantly, supervising the transfer and security measures for UAE nationals travelling to the UAE via Damascus.

Meanwhile, a UAE family of six women who were spending their vacation in a village south of Lebanon has been escorted safely to Beirut and waiting to return to the UAE, a senior official at the UAE embassy in Beirut told Gulf News.

Mohammad Sultan Al Suwaidi, UAE ambassador to Beirut, told Gulf News the embassy was contacting all UAE nationals spending their vacation in Lebanon.

"We would like to assure all our people in UAE that all the UAE nationals in Beirut are safe and sound," he said.

"We contacted all the nationals and asked them to come to the embassy to arrange their trip back home. We are also getting a lot of calls from frightened nationals and we have told them to stay calm," he said.

Al Suwaidi said UAE nationals who drove to Lebanon can now return home through Syria.

"The embassy is coordinating with the UAE embassy in Damascus to facilitate the exit of the UAE nationals to Syria," he added.

"As for people who don't have cars, the embassy is providing big buses to help transfer them to Damascus. They can either continue their vacation in Syria or head back to the UAE," he said.

Al Suwaidi told Gulf News the embassy was packed with UAE nationals who came to the embassy and others have been calling since Wednesday.

"We are telling everyone to come to the embassy so that we can take them to Syria. Many are scared but we have told them not to worry. There are around 2,000 UAE tourists in Lebanon," he added.

"Yesterday [Wednesday] we got a call from a family that was in the south. They were very scared. We sent someone from the embassy to get them and they are safe and on their way to UAE," he added.

Emergency hotline

Any UAE resident who is in Lebanon now can reach the UAE embassy in Beirut on 009611857000. The phone line is open 24 hours a day.