Governments Send Planes to Evacuate Citizens From Egypt

Travelers and evacuees stranded at Cairo airport, Jan 30, 2011

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Last updated on: January 29, 2011 7:00 PM

Several governments say they are making arrangements to evacuate foreign citizens from Egypt as anti-government protests raged in that nation for a sixth day.

Washington urged U.S. citizens Sunday to leave Egypt voluntarily and said it would provide flights out of the country starting Monday.

U.S. Embassy officials in Cairo said it is unclear how many Americans want to leave. The U.S. State Department also authorized the voluntary departure of family members of U.S. diplomats and non-emergency embassy personnel.

Other nations sent planes to Egypt Sunday to evacuate foreign citizens who wish to leave. Those nations include Azerbaijan, India, Iraq, Japan and Turkey.

Nationals of Britain, France and China were urged to avoid non-essential travel to Egypt, but their governments did not announce plans for evacuations. Pakistan said it was monitoring the situation to decide whether or not to evacuate about 150 Pakistani families.

_{VOA speaks with Assistant Secretary of State for Visa Services Janice Jacobs about the State Department's efforts to assist U.S. citizens there.}

_{To find out more visit travel.state.gov.
U.S. citizens may also email at egyptemergencyusc@state.gov
They may also call the State Department within the United States or Canada at 1-888-407-4747, or 1-202-501-4444 if outside of the country.}

Russia's tourism agency told Russian news agency Interfax most of the more than 25,000 Russian tourists staying at Egyptian seaside resorts do not plan to cut short their holidays despite the protests. But Belgian travel agency Jetair said it plans to evacuate all of its customers in Egypt.

There were chaotic scenes at Cairo's airport Sunday as foreign nationals prepared to evacuate. But the road to the airport was clear at midday, with Egypt's military patrolling it.

More than 100 people have been killed during protest violence since Tuesday.

_{Watch Raw Video of Sunday Protests in Egypt}