Some 855 Egyptian expatriates, who fled Lebanon to Syria after the beginning of the Israeli aggression, returned to Cairo Friday July 21 afternoon.

Apparently tired but relieved, they thanked President Hosni Mubarak for his directives to secure their safe return at the state expense.

They said the Egyptian ambassadors in Beirut and Damascus exerted strenuous efforts to secure their return.

When the Israeli attacks began, the Egyptian expatriates gathered in front of the Egyptian embassy in Beirut which offered buses to ferry them to Damascus airport with policemen escorting them to the Syrian borders, they said.

Meanwhile, Egypt-Air officials affirmed that the number of flights operated between Damascus and Cairo increased to absorb the large number of Egyptians coming from Lebanon via Syria.

July 22, 2006