Pakistan asks citizens not to travel to Syria
July 21st, 2012 - 5:58 pm ICT by IANSIslamabad, July 21 (IANS) Pakistan Saturday advised its nationals not to travel to Syria due to the deteriorating security situation in the Middle East country.
“In view of the deteriorating security situation in Syria, all Pakistani citizens, particularly the pilgrims are strongly advised not to travel to Syria,” Xinhua quoted the foreign ministry as saying in a statement.
Pakistani citizens who are already in Syria were urged to contact the country’s embassy in Syrian capital Damascus for assistance.
Every year, a number of Pakistanis travel to Syria for pilgrimage.
According to an embassy official, 600 to 700 Pakistanis are currently living in Syria.
Most of them, including businessmen and students, live in the capital but there is also a small presence in cities such as Homs and Latakia.
According to the UN, around 16,000 people have died in Syria since the start of the people’s uprising against President Bashar al-Assad in March last year.
- At least 55 killed in Syria pro-democracy violence - Mar 26, 2011
- Syrian president appoints ex-minister to form new government - Apr 03, 2011
- British diplomats withdrawn from Syria - Mar 01, 2012
- Over 3,000 protesters rally in Syria - May 14, 2011
- Russia hits out at West's 'chilling' stance on Syria - Jul 25, 2012
- Turkish nationals urged to leave Syria - Mar 16, 2012
- Russian airline to shut flights to Damascus - Jul 23, 2012
- Syrian President al-Assad signs draft constitution - Feb 28, 2012
- Arab Spring in Syria? Picnickers tell a different story - Apr 21, 2012
- UN Syria envoy Kofi Annan to visit Russia - Mar 22, 2012
- Car bomb rocks Damascus suburb, hits peace deal - Apr 25, 2012
- Syria's Assad not ready to stand down - Jul 20, 2012
- Czech Republic buys armoured car for ambassador in Syria - Aug 04, 2012
- Iran rejects foreign intervention in Syria - Aug 08, 2012
- Significant devastation in Syria's Homs: UN official - Mar 09, 2012
Tags: bashar al assad, businessmen, deteriorating security situation, embassy official, foreign ministry, homs, islamabad, latakia, nationals, pakistan, pakistani citizens, pakistanis, pilgrimage, pilgrims, presence, president bashar, syria, syrian capital damascus, uprising, xinhua