Main » 2013 » January » 21 » Russia sends planes to Beirut for Russians in Syria
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Russia sends planes to Beirut for Russians in Syria
Russia is sending two passenger planes to Beirut to fly home Russian citizens who have fled the conflict in Syria.
The emergency(непредвиденный случай)situations ministry said more than 100 people were expected to board the aircraft on Tuesday.
The foreign ministry has contingency(случайность) plans for the large-scale evacuation of 30,000 Russian citizens in Syria.
It would be the first such airlift since the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad began in March 2011. Moscow has been a staunch ally.
Russia has used its veto power on the UN Security Council to block resolutions seeking to condemn Mr Assad or impose sanctions.
Last month, Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov became the first senior Russian official to acknowledge publicly that the Syrian government might be defeated by opposition forces.
Syria's government was "progressively losing control", he said, adding that "the victory of the Syrian opposition cannot be excluded(исключённый)".
The foreign ministry later clarified Mr Bogdanov's comments, insisting Russia had not changed its position on Syria and "never will".
In a separate development, the chief of the Arab League, Nabil al-Arabi, said UN efforts to help resolve the Syrian crisis had faltered.
"I have to say that all contacts made by the special envoy Lakhdar Brahimi have so far not yielded a flicker of hope to put this crisis on the exit track," Mr al-Arabi said on Monday at an economic summit in Saudi Arabia.
Earlier this month, talks in Geneva between Mr Brahimi and senior US and Russian diplomats ended without a breakthrough.
The talks had been aimed at discussing how to implement a plan proposed last June by the Action Group for Syria, which called for an immediate cessation of violence and the establishment of a transitional government.
Responding to a question after the meeting, Mr Brahimi said: "If you are asking whether there is a solution around the corner, I'm not sure that is the case."
The UN said recently that more than 60,000 people had been killed since the uprising against the president began in March 2011.
Questions When did the uprising against the Syria's president begin? How many people have been killed since March 2011? How many planes Russia is sending in Beirut? Will Russia change its position on Syria?
It is upsetting that Russian citizens often suffer from riots and disturbances in Arabic countries nowadays. It is politics and we can't judge it without enough trustful information. But it is really bad that in the end the innocent people suffer.
