By :
P. ARUNA
SEPANG:
The first batch of students from Syria arrived at the Kuala Lumpur
International Airport at 4:11pm Wednesday after the flight was delayed by an
hour. The seven students who arrived on the EK 346 Emirates flight were
welcomed by Deputy Foreign Minister Richard Riot Jaem.
The
students were Abdul Halim Mohammad Ghazali, 21; Mohd Luqman Saidin, 23;
Muhammad Afifuddin Md Tahir, 23; Muhammad Hasan Hilmi Hassan Shukri, 21;
Muhammad Othman Zawawi, 23; Muhammad Rusydi Ilhami Ahmad Fahmi, 22; and Syed
Abdul Rahman Syed Ramli, 24.
Riot
said 101 more students were expected to arrive in three batches on Thursday.
The
Government had decided to fly Malaysian students in Syria back home in view of
the country's internal political crisis.
Foreign
Minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman had announced on Tuesday that the first
chartered flight to carry the Malaysian evacuees would arrive at KL
International Airport Tuesday while the second batch would arrive Wednesday.
Anifah
said the Malaysian Embassy in Damascus was making all efforts to ensure the
students were evacuated as quickly as possible.
He
earlier announced that the Government would commence an evacuation exercise to
bring Malaysians home immediately as a precautionary measure following the
civil war in Syria.
The
Government has also urged all Malaysians in Syria to leave the country
immediately, while those planning to travel there were advised to postpone
their plans.
It
said all 138 Malaysians, comprising 128 students and 10 expatriates registered
with the embassy, were safe and accounted for.
The
Malaysian ambassador and four other embassy officials will also be temporarily
withdrawn from Syria once the evacuation was completed.
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