Athens News Agency: News in English, 06-07-19

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From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>

CONTENTS

[01] KKE, SYN delegations to Lebanon, Palestine

[02] More Greeks flee Lebanon via Cyprus

[01] KKE, SYN delegations to Lebanon, Palestine

At the same time, Coalition of the Left, Movements and Progress (SYN) leader Alekos Alavanos also said that party officials will take part in a "solidarity delegation" also comprising academics and members of solidarity delegations that was due to leave soon for Palestine.

The KKE said in a press release that a delegation of party officials, headed by party leader Papariga, would leave for Lebanon "in the next few days".

The delegation will include KKE political bureau member Dimitris Koutsoumbas and Rizospastis newspaper journalist Eleni Mavrouli.

The press release said that the KKE delegation will express the party's "strong condemnation of Israel's crimes", and its "support for the just struggle of the Lebanese and Palestinian peoples".

SYN president Alekos Alavanos announced that an "on-the-spot delegation of solidarity", comprising academics, solidarity organisation s with the Palestinian people, SYN cadres, and SYN Youth officials, would leave soon for Tel Aviv, for the purpose of visiting the strife-torn parts of Palestine, a party press release said..

Alavanos said the delegation, which will include SYN-backed candidate for Thessaloniki Mayor Tasos Kourakis, would "bring a message of support from the entire Greek people to the Palestinians and the Lebanese and, if you wish, also to the Israeli citizens hurt by Israel's policy".

It also said that Alavanos, in reply to a press question on the refugees from Lebanon, said that "all these families, which have been forced to abandon their homes under dramatic circumstances, under the relentless and inhuman bombings by Israel, must not suffer a second displacement, even for just a few days".

"In this sense, putting aside all forms of bureacratic procedure, our country, the government, must be ready to provide a safe environment of hospitality and sense of security to these people until we see what the outcome of this situation in the Middle East will be," Alavanos said.

[02] More Greeks flee Lebanon via Cyprus

They had arrived at Larnaca port shortly after midnight and were greeted by Greek Ambassador to Cyprus Dimitrios Rallis.

Arriving alongside them were the last 80 Cypriot nationals that sought help to leave Lebanon, according the Cyprus foreign ministry permanent secretary Sotos Zakheos. The remaining Cypriots in the besieged country have decided to stay with their families in Lebanon, he added.

Also on board the "Psara" were four U.S. citizens, one Canadian and two Austrians, as well as three children trapped in Lebanon with their grandmother.

Organising the reception and hospitality of foreign nationals arriving in Larnaca from Lebanon is a coordinating committee set up by the Cyprus government, which oversees the activities of the various government services and other bodies involved.

There is heightened activity and traffic at Larnaca port as hundreds of Europeans and Americans arrive on boats from Beirut.

Arrivals on Wednesday included the Norwegian ship "Hual Transporter" with more than 1,100 people on board, mostly of American or Scandinavian origin.

The U.S. Ambassador to Cyprus Ronald Schlicher said that several thousands U.S. citizens were expected to arrive on Cyprus, who would stay in hotels or - if there were not enough beds - in schools and an exhibition space equipped with tents and prefab housing provided by the Cyprus government.

Thanking Nicosia, Schlicher said that the Cyprus Republic had offered significant assistance and that this could be a good opportunity to deepen U.S.-Cyprus cooperation.

Later on Wednesday, the Panamanian-flagged ship "Oriental Queen" is expected to arrive at the port in Limassol carrying another 800-900 Americans, to be followed by the cruise ship "Serenate" that will left off passengers that were on a scheduled cruise to Port Said in Egypt and then depart immediately without passengers.

The Greek ferry boat "Ierapetra", chartered by the French government, set sail for Beirut at dawn on Wednesday to pick up another 2,000-odd people, followed by the Greek Navy tank-landing craft "Alcyone" soon after it arrived from Greece.

According to an announcement by the Greek armed forces general staff, meanwhile, the tank-landing craft "Ikaria" was expected to arrive in Beirut at 14:30 on Wednesday afternoon.

The foreigners arriving in Cyprus are mostly leaving from Larnaca airport, or staying at hotels until arrangements for their departure can be made.

Meanwhile, during the U.S. State Department briefing on the Lebanon evacuation efforts, Assistant Secretary for Consular Affairs Maura Harty expressed gratitude for help offered by the Cyprus Republic.

"We're so grateful to them... Cypriots have met every helicopter and ship with sandwiches and water and juice. They're just being fantastic. Department of Defense is meeting planes as well for security reasons and for protection purposes," she said.

She also noted that the U.S. was trying to minimise the time spent by its citizens on the island and would try to coordinate the arrival of ships with chartered planes to take them home, as far as possible.

"We just want that throughput to be as efficient as it can be. So there is bottled water. There is a fair grounds that we have rented. There are some air-conditioned facilities. The Cypriot Civil Defense Force has been very helpful to us in what they have provided," she added.

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