International Cairo Airport received yesterday, August 9, 2006, 95 Egyptians returning home on board a special flight via Damascus to which they arrived by land. The flight was paid-for by the government.

According to an official source, the flight is part of the airlift ordered by President Hosni Mubarak to evacuate Egyptian nationals from Lebanon.

The returnees said that the deteriorating situation in Lebanon was the reason why they headed for the Egyptian Embassy in Beirut for a way back home.

They also said that Egypt's Ambassador Hussein Derrar arranged for two buses to carry them to Damascus from where they boarded a plane back to Egypt.