Two RJ planes to bring Jordanians home from Yemen

AMMAN — Two Royal Jordanian (RJ) planes were scheduled to leave Amman on Monday night for the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, to bring home 145 Jordanians due to the instability there, a government official said. 

Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Ashraf Khasawneh told The Jordan Times that the Kingdom’s embassy in Sanaa has been in contact with Jordanians who reside in the unrest-ridden country, adding that most of them are university students. 

Khasawneh said some 375 Jordanians used to reside in Yemen, but many of them have returned home after the crisis between the government and Shiite Houthi rebels erupted in mid-August. 

“Currently there are only 145 Jordanians there and they are scheduled to be brought home,” the ministry official noted, adding that the planes are expected to return from Sanaa at dawn on Tuesday. 

Khasawneh said some expatriates returned home after the ministry issued a warning a few weeks ago urging Jordanians not to travel to Yemen and calling on citizens there to return home. 

The ministry is facilitating the return of all Jordanians and has been in direct contact with them to ensure their safety, he added. 

On Monday, Shiite rebels were guarding government offices and army bases in the Yemeni capital alongside army troops after a UN-brokered peace agreement aimed at ending a week of deadly fighting, Agence-France Presse reported.

Sunday’s hard-won deal, signed by the president and all the main political parties, was intended to put the troubled transition back on track in impoverished Yemen, according to AFP.