MALAYSIAN GOVT MULLS USING AUXILIARY SHIP TO EVACUATE M'SIANS IN TROUBLED EGYPT

LABIS (Malaysia), Feb 2 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian government is mulling
over using the navy's auxiliary ship currently deployed in the Gulf of Aden to
assist the evacuation of Malaysian students from troubled Egypt.

Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak said the ship would take the students
from Egypt to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, to enable them to take flights to Malaysia.

"We do have plans to utilise the assets of the armed forces, including the
navy ship currently deployed at the Gulf of Aden, to take them out of Egypt," he
told reporters after visiting the flood victims at Kampung Ayer Panas here
Tuesday.

Najib was asked to comment on the concerns raised by the families of
Malaysians in Egypt following the widespread unrest in major Egyptian cities,
with demonstrators calling for an end to President Hosni Mubarak's 30-year rule.

The navy's auxiliary ship currently involved in anti-piracy operation in the
Gulf of Aden is KD Bunga Mas.

There are about 10,000 Malaysian students in Egypt.

The prime minister said the government had sent officers to the country to
assess the situation and ensure the Malaysians are safe.

On the possibility of using the C-130 transport aircraft, he said, it was
not practical because it could only take 40 passengers.

"We are also not sure of the availability of ground-handling crew at the
airports there," he said.

Present were his wife Rosmah Mansor as well as Chief Minister Abdul Ghani
Othman and Defence Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

Najib said the government understood the concern raised by the families of
the Malaysian students but said that the government cannot act in a hasty
manner.