New Zealand Plans Evacuation For Citizens In Lebanon
Josephine Roque - All Headline News Staff Writer Wellington (AHN) - New Zealand is taking steps to evacuate an estimated 30 nationals in Lebanon. "Evacuation plans are being made as we speak,"Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters told National Radio, mentioning that the government was cooperating with Britain and France on getting New Zealanders out. According to Peters, the Commonwealth Office in London has a crisis center negotiating the exit of various nationals. While the regular attacks were causing evacuation issues "as much as can be done is being done," Peters added. New Zealand maintains no diplomatic office in Lebanon. Prime Minister Helen Clark told AP that British authorities took New Zealand's interests in countries where it had no diplomatic post. "We will need to be guided by them in their efforts to get out the foreign nationals they're responsible for," she told the NewstalkZB radio network. Countries are making efforts to evacuate its citizens, the first group being 21 Americans brought safely from Lebanon to Cyprus. "New Zealand, like all countries, will be calling on everybody to pull back and get into a dialogue," Clark said. Peters said New Zealand had already released its response to Israel. "The fact is the soldiers should be given back which was the primary cause of the escalation in the first place. But that said, this reaction seems to be far beyond what is |
