Cyprus asks U.S. to help its Lebanon-fled citizens depart from Nicosia

Cyprus on Thursday asked the U.S. government to respect Nicosia's demand that all foreign citizens, who have been transferred to Cyprus from war-ravaged Lebanon, depart for other destinations.

Some 14 people, who are members of American families but do not have U.S. citizenship, are obliged to remain in Cyprus, until their applications at the U.S. embassy in Nicosia are approved. But the embassy has rejected some applications.

Cypriot Minister of Foreign Affairs George Lillikas told the press Thursday that Nicosia has asked the U.S. to respect the verbal note the government of Cyprus had sent to all foreign embassies, asking every country to transfer back to their countries all evacuees from Lebanon.

"We will ask the U.S. government to transport its citizens, either of U.S. or Lebanese origin, to the U.S. They have been transferred to Cyprus with a U.S. initiative," Lillikas said.

He added that "we consider it to be the obligation of the U.S. to transfer them to the U.S. If there are any technical problems, it is their responsibility to solve them."

More than 13,000 Americans have so far transited Cyprus after departing from Lebanon.

Source: Xinhua