KUALA LUMPUR: Thirty Malaysians who were stranded in Khartoum, Sudan following clashes between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Force (RSF), have safely arrived at the Sudan Port.
Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Zambry Abdul Kadir said the evacuees, after being evacuated from the capital, endured a 30-hour journey to reach the port, where they will now be transported to a safe zone.
"We are now considering all options, either by air or sea. We have been arranging this since the last 48 hours.
"We have been working tirelessly since the first day of Hari Raya Aidilfitri to sort this out.
"We'll opt for the next immediate available modes of transport to transfer them to the next country," Zambry told the New Straits Times.
He added that the evacuees will be transported to either Jeddah, Saudi Arabia or Cairo, Egypt before being flown back to Malaysia.
He also commended the leadership of Malaysian Ambassador to Sudan Razdan Jamil and his team in Sudan for taking up the challenge of bringing the Malaysians to safety.
Zambry also asked everyone to pray for their safety.
Yesterday, Zambry said the mission to rescue the Malaysians trapped in Khartoum after clashes broke out were underway via a land route.
He described the efforts to extract the Malaysians as entering "a critical phase" and said their locations could not be disclosed due to security factors.
The conflict in Sudan erupted on April 15, as a result of a dispute between the Sudanese army and the RSF, leaving thousands of foreigners stranded, including diplomats and humanitarian aid workers.
Several countries have already evacuated their citizens.
Some of the evacuations were done by air, or through the Red Sea port which is located about 650 km northeast of Khartoum and about 800 km by road.
A total of 32 Malaysians were reported to be in Sudan in seven different areas of the country.
On Friday, two Malaysians were brought out of Sudan in an operation conducted by officers from the Malaysian embassy.
The clash between the two sides has reportedly spread to Bahri and Omdurman, cities near Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, with battles also reported to have taken place around the military headquarters and the presidential palace.
Zambry said the swift action to bring Malaysians out was the result of careful planning by Wisma Putra and other agencies at the ministry's Sudan Operations Centre.
He said as soon as the group of Malaysians reached the safe location, they would be immediately evacuated from Sudan before being brought back directly to Malaysia.