Efforts continue to evacuate Iraqis from Syria

Head of the displaced persons committee in the Iraqi parliament Leqaa Wardi announced Sunday that Parliament Speaker Osama al-Nujaifi has agreed to allocate ten planes to bring home the Iraqi citizens stranded in Syria at the expense of the parliament. Earlier, Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh announced that the government has provided four planes to transfer the Iraqis from Syria. Al-Dabbagh noted that Iraq had evacuated more than 8,600 Iraqi citizens by air and buses in recent days, and efforts are continuing to transfer them to Iraq. He underlined that the government is bearing all the costs of transporting Iraqi citizens and is also securing their legal documents for entry to the country. He said Iraq will transport 30,000 citizens over the next 24 hours by increasing the number of buses and planes for transport. Meanwhile, a source in the Ministry of Transport announced that Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has allocated his private plane to transfer the Iraqi citizens. Yesterday, the Iraqi Airways announced that it had organized 17 flights to bring home the Iraqis residing in Syria. Director General of the Iraqi Airways Captain Sa'ad Mahdi Sa'eed told the National Iraqi News Agency (NINA) that in carrying out Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's instructions, Iraqi airliners are continuing in bringing home Iraqis residing in Syria. Dabbagh said on Thursday that he estimated around 100,000 to 200,000 Iraqis still remained inside Syria. He added that around 1,000 Iraqis had returned to the country by plane from Syria, and a further 1,500 were waiting at Damascus airport.