Six Icelanders still in Beirut

Six Icelanders who tried getting on coaches yesterday organised by the Norwegian authorities from Beirut, Lebanon to Syria, were unavailable to get seats and had to turn back. An Icelandic family of four was able to get on one of the coaches, but the other six, three aircraft engineers and a family with a four-month old baby were refused a seat despite promises made by the Norwegian authorities. There were eleven Icelanders living in Beirut when the conflict began and six remaining. One Icelander left for Syria by his own devices. " We have returned to our hotel rooms and are just waiting," said engineer Már Þórarinsson. " We arrived early at the coaches but were told that Norwegians had priority for seats. We have no idea whether we can get out at all now, we've been told it will be extremely difficult to get on coaches out of the country."

Pétur Ásgeirsson, spokesman for the Icelandic Foreign Ministry says that the remaining Icelanders may possibly get on a coach organised by Finnish authorities today. " I want to correct that Norwegian authorities never guaranteed that all of the Icelanders would be able to get on the coaches yesterday ." Foreign Minister Valgerður Sverrisdóttir has decided to send a plane to Damascus, Syria to retrieve people from the Nordic countries fleeing from Lebanon. The plane seats 446 passengers and leaves tonight. " We hope that all the Icelanders can get on this plane. It's Iceland's contribution to the Nordic cooperation of evacuating people from Lebanon," explains Ásgeirsson.