CHILE-SYRIA/EVACUATION: After attack on security headquarters in Damascus, Chilean Foreign Minister Alfredo Moreno reassures people there is a plan for Chilean citizen evacuation.

Record ID: 281141

  • Title: CHILE-SYRIA/EVACUATION: After attack on security headquarters in Damascus, Chilean Foreign Minister Alfredo Moreno reassures people there is a plan for Chilean citizen evacuation.
  • Date: 18th July 2012
  • Summary: SANTIAGO, CHILE (RECENT - JULY 11, 2012) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF THE OUTSIDE OF THE MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
  • Embargoed: 2nd August 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Chile
  • Country: Chile
  • Topics: Conflict,International Relations,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVABTC7XVKAJPFJJ4D1EPIYS2XMB
  • Story Text: As violence in the Syrian capital of Damascus intensifies, Chile's Foreign Minister Alfredo Moreno reassured his country on Wednesday (July 18) that plans to evacuate Chileans from Syria were already in place.
    "There is an evacuation plan for the Chilean people. They are registered so that the people who want to leave have all the facilities to do so through our team there," he told reporters
    The Minister estimated that there are about 100 Chilean citizens in Syria and that 60 of those had already registered with the embassy.
    The announcement comes shortly after an explosion inside the Syrian national security headquarters in Damascus killed three of President Bashar Assad's most senior members, including his brother-in-law.
    Moreno expressed his hopes for peace in the region but was adamant about Chile's decisive response on behalf of its citizens.
    "You know very well the position of Chile. In fact, we have already made the decision and we have already removed families of diplomats who were still there and we hope that the situation, with the help of the international community, will return to tranquillity, to peace and to a process can solve the problems that have existed in Syria for a long time," he said.
    Damascus had been isolated form much of the violence during the 16 months of the uprising, but intense clashes have been reported in the centre of the capital and the army was shelling its own capital from the surrounding mountains as night fell.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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