RMAF Still Waiting For Green Light To Land In Saudi Arabia
From Muammar Kamarudin
ABU DHABI, Feb 3 (Bernama) -- Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) aircraft on their way to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia for a rescue mission, have yet to get green light from the Saudi authorities to take off from the Abu Dhabi International Airport and land in Jeddah.
The three C130 Hercules aircraft that left RMAF Subang at 9.30pm Wednesday arrived in Abu Dhabi at 12noon Thursday (Malaysian time) but could not take off to Jeddah.
Deputy Commander of the rescue mission Col Dzulkarnain Ahmad said RMAF were still waiting for approval from the Saudi authorities to land in Jeddah.
According to him, the 180-member mission was made up of 150 Malaysian military officers, while the remainder were representatives of the National Security Council, Wisma Putra, media group and Tabung Haji.
The objective of the mission was to send food supply at evacuation venues and fly out Malaysian students trapped in three main towns in Egypt.
He added that the students would be flown out of Cairo to Jeddah using the three aircraft.
Meanwhile, students in Egypt had been issued directive to prepare for evacuation from the troubled country.
According to a student from University of Al-Azhar in Cairo, Muhd Faizul Azmir Ramli, the Malaysian Embassy had already issued a notice to students, urging them to prepare for evacuation as soon as possible.
"We have packed our belongings and waiting for the signal. We just want to get out of the country (Egypt) before the situation gets worse," he told Bernama when contacted.
He added that communication was a major problem because the systems had been tampered and efforts to withdraw cash from ATM machines has also been disrupted due to rioting and vandalism.
Muhd Faizul said he and 200 other students had gathered at the Haiyur Asyir complex, one of the venues earmarked for evacuation of students in Cairo.
"It is easy to gather students in Cairo but those from Iskandariah, Mansourah and Tanta will face a slight problem," he said.
University of Al-Azhar student Mohd Zainureen Mahmud when contacted said he and 64 others students from Perlis were already at the Cairo International Airport and expected to board a flight by 12.30pm (Egyptian time).
He added that another 286 students would also be on the same flight.
Mohd Zainureen said apart from their flight, there was another flight bound to Jeddah with 309 students and scheduled to leave Cairo Thursday.
-- BERNAMA
ABU DHABI, Feb 3 (Bernama) -- Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) aircraft on their way to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia for a rescue mission, have yet to get green light from the Saudi authorities to take off from the Abu Dhabi International Airport and land in Jeddah.
The three C130 Hercules aircraft that left RMAF Subang at 9.30pm Wednesday arrived in Abu Dhabi at 12noon Thursday (Malaysian time) but could not take off to Jeddah.
Deputy Commander of the rescue mission Col Dzulkarnain Ahmad said RMAF were still waiting for approval from the Saudi authorities to land in Jeddah.
According to him, the 180-member mission was made up of 150 Malaysian military officers, while the remainder were representatives of the National Security Council, Wisma Putra, media group and Tabung Haji.
The objective of the mission was to send food supply at evacuation venues and fly out Malaysian students trapped in three main towns in Egypt.
He added that the students would be flown out of Cairo to Jeddah using the three aircraft.
Meanwhile, students in Egypt had been issued directive to prepare for evacuation from the troubled country.
According to a student from University of Al-Azhar in Cairo, Muhd Faizul Azmir Ramli, the Malaysian Embassy had already issued a notice to students, urging them to prepare for evacuation as soon as possible.
"We have packed our belongings and waiting for the signal. We just want to get out of the country (Egypt) before the situation gets worse," he told Bernama when contacted.
He added that communication was a major problem because the systems had been tampered and efforts to withdraw cash from ATM machines has also been disrupted due to rioting and vandalism.
Muhd Faizul said he and 200 other students had gathered at the Haiyur Asyir complex, one of the venues earmarked for evacuation of students in Cairo.
"It is easy to gather students in Cairo but those from Iskandariah, Mansourah and Tanta will face a slight problem," he said.
University of Al-Azhar student Mohd Zainureen Mahmud when contacted said he and 64 others students from Perlis were already at the Cairo International Airport and expected to board a flight by 12.30pm (Egyptian time).
He added that another 286 students would also be on the same flight.
Mohd Zainureen said apart from their flight, there was another flight bound to Jeddah with 309 students and scheduled to leave Cairo Thursday.
-- BERNAMA
