Committee setup to oversee evacuation from Lebanon

Accra, July 19, GNA - A three-member committee made up of the Minister of National Security, Minister of the Interior and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Cooperation and NEPAD had been constituted to oversee to the evacuation of Ghanaian residents in the Middle East.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Cooperation Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo announced this in Accra on Wednesday at a press briefing on the Middle East crisis.

He told journalists that the Government would do all it could to ensure the safety of all its citizens in the war-torn country, which had been pounded daily by Israel for more than one week following the eruption of fresh fighting with the Hezbollah.

He said currently the Ghana Embassy in Lebanon did not know the exact number of Ghanaians in that country, as the majority of them failed to register their stay.

"This is making the process of recognizing the actual number for effective planning a bit difficult. However, the Government was making every effort to contact some neighbouring countries for logistic and financial support and also work in close collaboration with other disaster management agencies to ensure an effective evacuation process, the Minister said.

Nana Akufo-Addo stated that there had not been any reported casualties as far as Ghanaians resident in the country as well as peacekeeping troops were concerned, and promised to keep the public informed about any further developments in the Middle East crisis.