By Lucas Liganga
The Citizen Chief Reporter
Dodoma. Tanzania has temporarily closed its embassy in Egypt, recalled its ambassador and evacuated more than 60 nationals.This was as a result of an 18-day popular uprising that led to the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak on Friday after 30 years in power.
The minister for Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation, Mr Bernard Membe, revealed this to The Citizen on Sunday here in an exclusive interview on Friday. This was shortly before the 82-year-old Egyptian leader stepped down. Mr Membe said the evacuated Tanzanians included embassy officials, their dependants and students.
The Citizen Chief Reporter
Dodoma. Tanzania has temporarily closed its embassy in Egypt, recalled its ambassador and evacuated more than 60 nationals.This was as a result of an 18-day popular uprising that led to the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak on Friday after 30 years in power.
The minister for Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation, Mr Bernard Membe, revealed this to The Citizen on Sunday here in an exclusive interview on Friday. This was shortly before the 82-year-old Egyptian leader stepped down. Mr Membe said the evacuated Tanzanians included embassy officials, their dependants and students.
“The only remaining staff members at our embassy in Cairo are the military attaché and a special adviser to the ambassador,” Mr Membe said at parliament buildings.
The popular uprising in Egypt reached the climax on Friday as President Mubarak surrendered to the will of a leaderless revolution. He stepped down after 30 years of autocratic rule over the Arab world's most populous nation.
Mr Mubarak becomes the second Arab leader in a month to succumb to the people's powerful thirst for freedom. His resignation sparked joyful pandemonium in Cairo and across the country. But the next step for Egypt was unclear, as the armed forces took control and gave little hint of how they intend to govern the country.
Said Mr Membe: “We are closely monitoring the situation in Egypt to see how events are unfolding towards the weekend.” He explained that the government has so far evacuated 68 Tanzanians. They include the Ambassador to Egypt, Mr Ally Shauri Haji, 19 embassy staff and their dependants and 47 students.
Mr Membe said most of the evacuated students were from institutions in Cairo. Eleven are from Zanzibar and 36 from mainland Tanzania. They were evacuated by Kenya Airways.
He said there were 19 other students lined up for evacuation, but they were waiting for flights. “There are congestions at the airports,” he added.
The minister said 61 other Tanzanians living in Egypt had enlisted at the embassy for evacuation in case the situation worsened. “We have their physical addresses and telephone numbers,” he said, explaining:
“There were initially 80 Tanzanians, but 19 were picked up by relatives.” He said 22 African countries, including Kenya, had also evacuated some of their nationals from Egypt.
He said the government had not received reports of any Tanzanians killed following the uprising in Egypt.
He apologised to people who wanted to get diplomatic services from Tanzania’s Cairo embassy, saying the government has been forced to close the mission due to the volatile security situation there.
In Cairo yesterday, thousands of Egyptians were still singing and waving flags as dawn broke over a nation reborn yesterday. This followed a popular uprising that forced President Hosni Mubarak from power.
The streets and squares of downtown Cairo were still in the hands of mostly young demonstrators whose 18-day revolt overturned 30 years of dictatorship and triggered an outpouring of national solidarity.
Political power now rests with military commanders who stepped into the vacuum left by Mr Mubarak's departure. Many people were anxiously waiting to see whether they would make good their promise to respect the popular people’s will.
In Tahrir Square, the epicentre of the revolt, many of the anti-regime protesters who had occupied the city's vast central plaza since January 28, were still sleeping in makeshift shelters, now joined by exhausted well-wishers.
Mr Mubarak becomes the second Arab leader in a month to succumb to the people's powerful thirst for freedom. His resignation sparked joyful pandemonium in Cairo and across the country. But the next step for Egypt was unclear, as the armed forces took control and gave little hint of how they intend to govern the country.
Said Mr Membe: “We are closely monitoring the situation in Egypt to see how events are unfolding towards the weekend.” He explained that the government has so far evacuated 68 Tanzanians. They include the Ambassador to Egypt, Mr Ally Shauri Haji, 19 embassy staff and their dependants and 47 students.
Mr Membe said most of the evacuated students were from institutions in Cairo. Eleven are from Zanzibar and 36 from mainland Tanzania. They were evacuated by Kenya Airways.
He said there were 19 other students lined up for evacuation, but they were waiting for flights. “There are congestions at the airports,” he added.
The minister said 61 other Tanzanians living in Egypt had enlisted at the embassy for evacuation in case the situation worsened. “We have their physical addresses and telephone numbers,” he said, explaining:
“There were initially 80 Tanzanians, but 19 were picked up by relatives.” He said 22 African countries, including Kenya, had also evacuated some of their nationals from Egypt.
He said the government had not received reports of any Tanzanians killed following the uprising in Egypt.
He apologised to people who wanted to get diplomatic services from Tanzania’s Cairo embassy, saying the government has been forced to close the mission due to the volatile security situation there.
In Cairo yesterday, thousands of Egyptians were still singing and waving flags as dawn broke over a nation reborn yesterday. This followed a popular uprising that forced President Hosni Mubarak from power.
The streets and squares of downtown Cairo were still in the hands of mostly young demonstrators whose 18-day revolt overturned 30 years of dictatorship and triggered an outpouring of national solidarity.
Political power now rests with military commanders who stepped into the vacuum left by Mr Mubarak's departure. Many people were anxiously waiting to see whether they would make good their promise to respect the popular people’s will.
In Tahrir Square, the epicentre of the revolt, many of the anti-regime protesters who had occupied the city's vast central plaza since January 28, were still sleeping in makeshift shelters, now joined by exhausted well-wishers.
"It's party time! We are born again," declared 40-year-old agricultural engineer Osama Saadallah. "We were behind other countries, now we are worth something in the eyes of others, of the Arab world."
No comments:
Post a Comment