Canada's PM diverts plane to pick up evacuees

CANADIAN Prime Minister Stephen Harper diverted his plane to Cyprus on Wednesday to pick up Canadians fleeing Israeli air strikes in Lebanon.

Harper, in Europe at the end of a week-long three-country tour, decided to divert his Canadian Forces Airbus to pick up as many citizens as he could before returning to Canada.

Harper’s government has been criticised for its handling of the evacuation and for defending Israel’s actions in Lebanon, even after an Israeli bomb killed eight Canadians on Sunday.

Harper rejected the idea he had ordered the diversion simply to generate good publicity.
Before he left for Cyprus, he said criticism was inevitable at such times but “we believe there’s a real need here, and we can make a more-than-symbolic contribution to helping with the situation.”

He expected to pick up 100 to 120 people of about 350 that his spokeswoman said were boarding a vessel in Lebanon for an overnight journey to Cyprus.

Those who cannot find a place on Harper’s plane would fly on another plane the Canadian government was chartering. Canada has chartered six other vessels as well.

Harper did not leave his aircraft in Cyprus, where he was met by the Cypriot foreign minister. A spokesman said he would wait for the Canadians at the airport.

Spokeswoman Sandra Buckler estimated Canada had 40,000 to 50,000 people in Lebanon, possibly the largest contingent of any western nation, and Harper said Canadian officials were working around the clock on evacuation plans. (R)

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.