Egypt's foreign ministry has announced that it will facilitate the transport of 60 Egyptians back to Egypt from war-torn Syria. Alaa Abdel-Aziz, Egypt's acting ambassador in Syria, announced on Monday that the embassy will facilitate the transport of 28 Egyptians from Syria to Lebanon, where they will fly to Cairo. The rest will fly directly from Damascus to Cairo. The embassy has also issued travel documents to those who have lost theirs as a result of the ongoing conflict in Syria between President Bashar Al-Assad's regime and opposition forces. The embassy has also covered the travelling expenses of 24 others. Abdel-Aziz said that the travel is being coordinated between the Egyptian embassies in Damascus and Beirut, the first providing buses to Lebanon and the latter coordinating flights to Cairo. The Egyptian embassy in Syria has facilitated the return of over five thousand Egyptians from Syria since the conflict started in 2011. Egypt downgraded its diplomatic mission in Syria when it withdrew its ambassador, Shawqi Ismail, in February 2012. Acting ambassador Abdel-Aziz has remained in position. Nazih El-Naggary, deputy spokesperson at Egypt's foreign ministry,told Ahram Online earlier in May that Egypt has not restored full diplomatic ties with Syria and has not changed its position on Al-Assad's regime. http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/72419.aspx
