The ship "Souria" departs the port of Benghazi with 325 Syrian nationals on-board

This urgent report was published yesterday on the website of the Syrian Arabic-language biweekly magazine al-Iqtisadi. Here is a rush English translation of it.

Urgent: The ship "Souria" departs the port of Benghazi with 325 Syrian nationals on-board 

27-02-2011 

The Syrian Minister of Transport Yarob Badr announced that the Syrian ship "Souria" that is participating in the transportation of Syrian nationals from Libya has departed the port of Benghazi yesterday with 325 Syrian nationals on-board. It is scheduled to arrive to the Syrian port of Latakia on Tuesday morning. 

Minister Badr explained: Transporting the Syrians on-board the multipurpose ship "Souria" was done in all the available cabins and in the best possible conditions, especially given the fact that the route of the ship was changed out of necessity and urgency from the port of Algiers to Libya, to ensure the transportation of the Syrian nationals who would like to leave Libya. 

Badr added: The second ship "al-Assad", which was also sent to participate in evacuating the Syrian nationals, will arrive to the port of Benghazi on Sunday morning, while the leased ship "Europe Palace" will arrive in the afternoon to the same port to continue with the evacuation efforts. He also said that preparations are underway to mobilize other ships to the ports of Tripoli and Misurata, as per a request made by the Syrian Embassy in Tripoli with which coordination is being done in that regard. 

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Syrian Airlines announces new emergency flights to Libya

The Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported today that Syrian Air "will run 11 flights today and on Friday at different times to carry the Syrian nationals from Libya."

Read the full SANA report here. 

Syrian expats donate to lease planes to transport Syrians from Libya

This urgent report was published earlier today on the website of the Syrian Arabic-language biweekly magazine al-Iqtisadi. Here is a rush English translation of it.

Urgent: Syrian expats donate to lease planes to transport Syrians from Libya  

[24-02-11] 

Right after Al Iqtisadi website published the report regarding the delay in evacuating Syrians stranded in Tripoli Airport, after having received several calls from their relatives, and in view of the unfavorable circumstances in the airport of the people stranded there, whose number reached 5000, including elderly, women and children, in addition to the steep rise in ticket prices, a group of Syrian expatriates decided to mobilize to help the community through contacts and coordination with other airline companies including the Syrian Cham Wings Airlines to donate money to purchase tickets for those stranded, in order to transport them as soon as possible.  

In a call with Al Iqtisadi website, a Syrian expatriate lady said: "Syrian TV reported yesterday that four Syrian planes are being operated daily to evacuate those stranded in Tripoli Airport. We were able with difficulty to call one of those Syrians stranded in Tripoli Airport. He told us the number of Syrians there is more than 2000, and only one plane has arrived in the morning. They treated the passengers very badly and resorted to extortion, raising the price of the ticket to $1500 USD per passenger" 

The Syrian expat added: "We contacted the Amman Air Services company and they welcomed our initiative and made contacts with other airlines to get good prices. But surprisingly and unfortunately, Damascus International Airport had given permission only to Syrian airlines arriving from Libya to land using its runways. Dealing with this issue is a very long routine process, and despite this we attempted to call some officials but did not get a response. Therefore, we are trying now to work with the Jordanian company that I mentioned to operate flights from Tripoli to Amman, from where passengers would then travel to Syria by bus".  

The Syrian expatriate also said they will wait today to verify the arrival of the ships that were sent from Syria to Libya, and if that did not happen, they will operate planes from the Jordanian company to transport all the Syrians stranded there. 

Some Syrian nationals fleeing violence in Libya arrive in Tunisia

The International Organization for Migration (IOM), an intergovernmental organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, issued a Press Briefing Note today reporting in it that thousands of migrants have started to arrive in Tunisia from Libya. Amongst those are some Syrian nationals.

"An IOM staffer says local Red Crescent officials reported to him and a UNHCR [United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees] official on Tuesday that in addition to several thousand returning Tunisians, there were some Lebanese, Turkish, Syrian and three German nationals who had arrived asking for onward travel assistance.

The local authorities provided transport for the migrants to Djerba international airport from where they were reportedly able to depart to their home countries.

With further arrivals in the evening across the Ben Guerdane border post, IOM staff identified low-cost hotel accommodation for the migrants of various nationalities, including four Guineans asking for help to get home, until onward travel assistance could be organized.

Additional IOM staff will be deployed to the border area today to help migrants arriving from Libya."

Read the full note here.


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Relatives of the Syrian community in Libya deny to Al Iqtisadi the arrival of Syrian planes

This urgent report was published earlier today on the website of the Syrian Arabic-language biweekly magazine al-Iqtisadi. Here is a rush English translation of it.

Urgent: Relatives of the Syrian community in Libya deny to Al Iqtisadi the arrival of Syrian planes 

[23-02-11]

Syria's ambassador to Libya, Mr. Hilal al-Atrash affirmed that 3 Syrian planes were sent from Syria to Tripoli to transport those who desire to go back home. 

He added that consular staff from the Syrian Embassy in cooperation with the Syrian Airlines office have moved to the Tripoli Airport to facilitate the procedures of the departing members of the Syrian community. 

Ambassador al-Atrash revealed that a ship may arrive soon to the city of Benghazi in east Libya to facilitate the return of those who want to travel to Syria. He said he is in contact with the Syrian Consulate in Benghazi and is following news of the community there in cooperation with the Consul General. 

Syrian Air had announced operating four flights between Damascus Airport and Tripoli Airport in Libya, two on Tuesday evening (7 PM and 11 PM) and two today Wednesday (4:30 AM and 9 AM), to transport members of the Syrian community who would like to depart Tripoli Airport because of the current events in Libya. 

Meanwhile, relatives of Syrian community members have denied to Al Iqtisadi the arrival of the three planes. They said their relatives in Libya are still awaiting the arrival of Syrian planes to Tripoli airport for two days now. 

The al Iqtisadi website has published previously a report saying that 5000 Syrians are stranded and starving in Tripoli Airport with no planes to transport them, after having received calls to that effect from relatives of Syrian expatriates working in Libya. This lead to the formation of a Facebook group demanding from Syrian Arab Airlines to send planes to rescue the Syrians, just like the Jordanians and others whose governments are in followup with them and transporting them very quickly. Al Arabiya news channel reported that many Syrians have crossed the Libyan border to Egypt because there aren't enough planes. Of note, only one Syrian plane arrived to Tripoli Airport and transported a number of Syrians. It did not return despite the fact that it asked for much higher prices than before, and everyone was willing to pay. Some are also bargaining to sell Syrian Air tickets for a $1000 USD each pending the arrival of the planes.  

Ships head to Libya to rescue members of the Syrian community

This urgent report was published today on the website of the Syrian Arabic-language biweekly magazine al-Iqtisadi. Here is a rush English translation of it.

Urgent: Ships head to Libya to rescue members of the Syrian community 

[23-02-11] 

Under directive from President of the Republic Bashar al-Assad, many ships are on their way to Libya, according to a report on the Syrian Satellite Channel, to rescue members of the Syrian community there.
Mr. Hilal al Atrash, Syria's Ambassador to Libya, has said it's possible that a ship will arrive soon to Benghazi in east Libya to facilitate the return of those who desire to go back home to Syria. He also said that he is in contact with the Syrian Consulate in Benghazi and following news of the Syrian community there in cooperation with the Consul General. 

"5000 Syrians trapped and starving in the Tripoli Airport"

This urgent report was published today on the website of the Syrian Arabic-language biweekly magazine al-Iqtisadi. Here is a rush English translation of it.

Urgent: 5000 Syrians are trapped and starving in the Tripoli Airport. No planes to transport them.   

22-02-2011 

The Al Iqtisadi website has received many calls from relatives of the expatriate Syrians in Libya, saying that there are about 5000 Syrians now inside the Tripoli Airport in Libya. Some have been there for three days, while others have joined them yesterday. 

Yasin al-Hussain from Damascus told al-Iqtisiadi: "I called my brother Muhammad this morning when communications were temporarily restored in the Tripoli Airport at 6 AM, but communications were disconnected again."

al-Hussain also said: "The condition of the Syrians in the airport is horrible. One Syrian plane arrived and transported a number of Syrians. But it did not come back, despite the fact that it asked for much higher prices than before". 

al-Hussain adds: "Everyone expressed willingness to pay, but the plane did not return. The Syrian Embassy considers its job done as soon as the Syrians make it to the airport, where the Syrians now live trapped in conditions of scarce food and drinking water. This is already affecting children, women and ill people and it may result in a disaster soon." 

In the meantime, most other countries with large expatriate communities in Libya, have established air bridges to transport their nationals back home. First and foremost this includes Turkey, Egypt and Tunisia, while at the same time Syrians of the expatriate community in Libya still await the Syrian planes to come and transport them. 

The Syrian Foreign Ministry has been contacted for two days now by tens of relatives of the Syrian expatriate community in Libya inquiring about ways to save their siblings and kin, who relay back to them through communications confirmation that air strikes are on the rise in all areas of the Libyan capital. 

The Voice of Freedom, Loud and Clear From Egypt

The year 2011 was destined to be one fateful year in the modern history of the Arab world. Before the year started, the spark was ignited in Tunisia, and then the flag of freedom was raised high in Egypt. Millions of Arabs around the world were captivated and glued to their television sets holding their breath, hoping, wishing and praying for the outcome that everyone was dreaming about, to materialize. We all felt we were part of history, even if many of us did nothing really but to be alive at this time, to witness history being made before our own eyes. We were all Tunisians. Then we were all Egyptians. Then we are all Bahraini, Yemeni and Libyan. And we continue to be all of the above and more, all at the same time. Many of us are still trying to understand what all of this means. Many of us are still extremely anxious about the events as they continue to unfold in many areas of the Arab world. One thing is starting to come into focus, however, and that is, the voice of freedom has now become loud and clear in the Arab world. This is the message of this song from Egypt.

The revolution of Egypt taught the entire world what liberation means in Arabic: Tahrir. Some of the images you will see in the video appear to be from the renowned Tahrir Square (Liberation Square) of Cairo, which is one of the many places in Egypt where Egypt's heroes peacefully "fought their battle" for freedom. The song was recorded and filmed before former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak stepped down. In the table below, you'll find the Arabic lyrics of the song (which are in the Egyptian dialect), along with a transliteration and an English translation. The credits for the song (as listed in the YouTube music video) are listed at the bottom of this page as well. The lyrics in bold below are verses from an Egyptian-dialect poem by Egyptian poet Abdurrahman Al-Abnoudi, and they appear in the song recited in the poet's own voice. They are from the poem titled "The Poem of The Square" (qasīdat al-mīdān قصيدة الميدان) (the square being of course, Tahrir Square).

Voice of Freedom	ṣot el-ḥorriyya	صوت الحرية
I went down and said I'm not coming back	nezelt w-ʼolt ʼana meš rāgeʿ	نزلت وقلت أنا مش راجع
I wrote with my blood in every street	we-katabt b-dammi f-kull šāreʿ	وكتبت بدمي في كل شارع
We brought our voice to everyone who was not hearing us	sammaʿna elli ma kanš sāmeʿ	سمعنا اللي ما كنش سامع
All barriers were shattered	w-takassaret kull el-mawaneʿ	وتكسرت كل الموانع
Our weapon was our dreams	silāḥna kān aḥlāmna	سلاحنا كان أحلامنا
Tomorrow was clear before us	we-bokra wāḍeḥ ʼoddāmna	وبكرا واضح قدامنا
We've been waiting for so long	men zamān be-nestanna	من زمان بنستنى
We were searching, unable to find our place	be-ndawwar meš lāʼyīn makannā	بندور مش لاقيين مكانا
In every street of my homeland .. the voice of freedom is calling	fe kulle šāreʿ fe blādī .. ṣot el-ḥorriyya b-īnādī	في كل شارع في بلادي .. صوت الحرية بينادي
In every street of my homeland .. the voice of freedom is calling	fe kulle šāreʿ fe blādī .. ṣot el-ḥorriyya b-īnādī	في كل شارع في بلادي .. صوت الحرية بينادي
We raised our head up high in the sky	rafaʿna rāsna fe s-samā	رفعنا راسنا في السما
Hunger was no longer our concern	weg-gūʿ ma baʼāš bi-yhemmenā	والجوع ما بقاش بيهمنا
The most important thing was our right	ʼahamm ḥāga ḥaʼʼenā	أهم حاجة حقنا
And to write our history with our blood	we-nekteb tarīḫna b-dammenā	ونكتب تاريخنا بدمنا
If you were one of us	law kont wāḥed mennenā	لو كنت واحد مننا
Stop rambling and telling us	balāš terġi we-tʼollenā	بلاش ترغي وتقلنا
To leave and abandon our dream	nemši we-nsīb ḥelmenā	نمشي ونسيب حلمنا
And stop saying the word "I"	w-baṭṭal teʼūl kelmet anā	وبطل تقول كلمة أنا
In every street of my homeland .. the voice of freedom is calling	fe kulle šāreʿ fe blādī .. ṣot el-ḥorriyya b-īnādī	في كل شارع في بلادي .. صوت الحرية بينادي
In every street of my homeland .. the voice of freedom is calling	fe kulle šāreʿ fe blādī .. ṣot el-ḥorriyya b-īnādī	في كل شارع في بلادي .. صوت الحرية بينادي
Tan Egyptian hands of distinction	ayādi maṣreyya samra .. līha fet-tamyīz	أيادي مصرية سمرا ليها في التمييز
Extended out amidst the roar .. shattering the frames	mamdūda weṣṭ ez-zaʼīr be-tkassar el-barawīz	ممدودة وسط الزئير بتكسر البراويز
The marvelous youth went out .. and turned the automn [of Egypt] into spring	ṭeleʿ eš-šabāb el-badīʿ .. ʼalabu ḫarīfha rabīʿ	طلع الشباب البديع قلبوا خريفها ربيع
They brought about the miracle .. they brought the murdered back to life	we-ḥaʼʼaʼu l-moʿgeza .. ṣaḥḥu l-ʼatīl me l-ʼatl	وحققوا المعجزة صحوا القتيل من القتل
Kill me .. By killing me you won't get your regime back	ʼeʼtelni .. ʼatli mā ḥayʿīd dawletak tāni	اقتلني قتلي ما هيعيد دولتك تاني
With my blood, I destine my homelands to a second life	bakteb be-dammi hayāh tanya le-awṭāni	بكتب بدمي حياة تانية لأوطاني
Is this my blood or is it spring .. Both are green in color	dammi da walla r-rabīʿ .. le-tnain be-lon aḫḍar	دمي ده ولا الربيع الاتنين بلون أخضر
Do I smile of my happiness or my sorrows	we-babtesem men saʿādti walla aḥzāni	وببتسم من سعادتي ولا أحزاني
In every street of my homeland .. the voice of freedom is calling	fe kulle šāreʿ fe blādī .. ṣot el-ḥorriyya b-īnādī	في كل شارع في بلادي .. صوت الحرية بينادي
In every street of my homeland .. the voice of freedom is calling	fe kulle šāreʿ fe blādī .. ṣot el-ḥorriyya b-īnādī	في كل شارع في بلادي .. صوت الحرية بينادي
In every street of my homeland .. the voice of freedom is calling	fe kulle šāreʿ fe blādī .. ṣot el-ḥorriyya b-īnādī	في كل شارع في بلادي .. صوت الحرية بينادي
In every street of my homeland .. the voice of freedom is calling	fe kulle šāreʿ fe blādī .. ṣot el-ḥorriyya b-īnādī	في كل شارع في بلادي .. صوت الحرية بينادي
In every street of my homeland .. the voice of freedom is calling	fe kulle šāreʿ fe blādī .. ṣot el-ḥorriyya b-īnādī	في كل شارع في بلادي .. صوت الحرية بينادي
In every street of my homeland .. the voice of freedom is calling	fe kulle šāreʿ fe blādī .. ṣot el-ḥorriyya b-īnādī	في كل شارع في بلادي .. صوت الحرية بينادي

A screen short from the video clip. Graffiti on the wall reads "The street is ours"

Credits: Sout Al Horeya - Hany Adel. Amir Eid; Guitar: Hawary; Keyboard: Sherif Mostafa; Composition & Lyrics: Amir Eid; Music Producer & Sound Engineer: Hany Adel