Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Russia said yesterday it had started evacuating scores of citizens not the start of a mass exodus


FREEMALAYSIATODAY: Russia says it is not planning full Syriaevacuation: MOSCOW: Russia said yesterday it had st...
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8:39 PM - 22 Jan 13 · Details

Russia says it is not planning full Syria evacuation

January 23, 2013
MOSCOW: Russia said yesterday it had started evacuating scores of citizens who wanted to leave Syria but denied the move was the start of a mass exodus.
Two senior diplomats played down the significance of decision, announced on Monday, to send aircraft to bring Russians home almost two years after the start of the revolt against Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad.
“We are not talking about a full evacuation … It is not planned that everyone will leave,” Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Denisov said, according to state-run news agency Itar-Tass.
“We are helping those who want to leave,” Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said on the sidelines of a meeting in Moscow between Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and Lebanese President Michel Suleiman.
Russia has been Assad’s most powerful foreign protector, vetoing three UN Security Council resolutions aimed to push the president out or press him to end the bloodshed.
Posted by Robby Ball at 4:43 PM