B'desh ready to bring nationals home from war-torn Lebanon

Dhaka, July 24 (UNI) The Bangladesh government has made all arrangements, including chartering aircraft in the event of emergency, to evacuate willing Bangladeshi nationals from the war-ridden Lebanon.

Foreign Secretary Hemayetuddin today apprised reporters of the preparedness, as 300 of the Bangladeshis living in the West Asian country have so far expressed their willingness to return home.

An estimated 10,000 Bangladeshi nationals are living in Lebanon, mostly in Beirut, now strafed by Israeli air strikes following the worst breakout of conflict in the region since 1967.

''Since Lebanon airport is bombarded, the government has requested the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) in Dhaka and Geneva to bring the Bangladeshis up to Damascus by road, from where the government would bring them back either by ship or chartered airplane,'' Mr Hemayetuddin urged.

He said Bangladesh Ambassadors in Jordan and Egypt and Honorary Consuls in Beirut and Syria have been instructed to extend all possible help to the Bangladeshi citizens in distress.

However, the Foreign Secretary said they had not received any report of casualty of any Bangladeshis in the Israeli attacks.

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