American visitor to Syria says: "no sign of any protest wherever we went"

In a blog posting today on "Syria Comment", a blog on Syrian affairs by Dr. Joshua Landis, director of the Center for Middle East Studies and associate professor at the University of Oklahoma, a message that came to Dr. Landis from someone who has just returned from Syria was published:

Dear Joshua, We proceeded with our recent trip to Syria (March 25 – April 3) and had a wonderful time. There was no sign of any protest wherever we went (Bosra, Damascus, Homs, Hama, Crak de Chevaliers, Sergilla, Aleppo and Palmyra) and people were extremely friendly. The State Department’s advisory for all Americans to consider leaving Syria seemed paranoid – perhaps a Washington-Damascus power play.

Best regards, Olaf Andersen

Read the blog posting here.  

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.