Remaining M'sian students in Eqypt to return home by Friday

The remaining Malaysian students registered under the evacuation programme will be flown home from strife-torn Egypt by Friday at the latest. Second Education Minister Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh said so far 1,305 students had returned home while 1,056 more would follow suit. "Thank God, the National Security Council has done a good job. Compared to the Pyramid I Ops, the operation this time around is smoother and better," he told reporters at the Cairo International Airport here before flying home together with 260 Malaysian students last night. Idris led a delegation to Egypt to discuss with his counterpart on the plight of Malaysian students there. He was accompanied by Education Ministry secretary-general II Datuk Seri Dr Zaini Ujang, prime minister's special officer Datuk Shahlan Ismail, former Malaysian ambassador to Egypt Datuk Dr Mohd Fakhrudin Abdul Mukti, Al-Azhar University's Malaysian campus representative Datuk Yahya Abd Jalil, and education ministry's higher learning sector senior officer Ibrahim Ali. Idris said registration for the evacuation programme had been closed for the time being. On Tuesday, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said the government decided to bring home Malaysian students in Egypt via commercial flights due to the volatile situation there. On his discussions with representatives of Egyptian universities on Monday, Idris said the universities agreed to postpone examinations for about 100 Malaysian students involved in the evacuation exercise to Sept 3-5. He said the Al-Azhar University yesterday gave permission to the Malaysian students to sit for their examination later.