Swedish gov't to evacuate nationals from Lebanon

The Swedish government decided to evacuate the country's nationals from Lebanon, Swedish media reported on Friday night. The Swedish Foreign Ministry's budget was increased by about 7.7 million USD in order to carry out the evacuation. The ministry sent extra personnel to assist in the evacuation of an estimated 4500 Swedish citizens from Lebanon by boats. The boats were to be sent from Cyprus. Swedish Foreign Minister Jan Eliasson said that the Swedish government had notified Israel of its intensions and that the Syrian government was granting visas for all Swedish nationals to enter Syria if they so wished.