OPS PYRAMID - A BAPTISM OF FIRE!

By Luqman Nul Hakim Mazlan

This is the first of the two articles on 'Ops Pyramid' to bring home
Malaysian students from Egypt by Bernama's journalist Luqman Nul Hakim Mazlan
who recently covered the biggest mission to evacuate Malaysians from a foreign
country.

CAIRO, Feb 21 (Bernama) -- The successful evacuation of more than 8,000
Malaysian students from Egypt recently under 'ops pyramid' has certainly put to
test the ability of the various agencies in successfully coordinating a rescue
mission faraway.

While naysayers rubbished the whole 'ops pyramid' exercise as nothing but a
ploy by the current administration to seek political mileage, the truth remains
that Malaysia has the ability and assets to undertake missions to rescue its
citizens in foreign land.

The Egypt episode came on the heels of another successful mission overseas
when the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) commandos stormed a hijacked Malaysian
chemical tanker at the Gulf of Aden and rescued its 23 crew from Somali pirates.
Seven of the pirates were taken back to Malaysia to be prosecuted.

However, unlike in the Gulf of Aden where it was a military exercise, in
Egypt it was a humanitarian exercise involving greater number of people and
numerous parties and third countries.


CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS

Egypt descended into turmoil in early February when its people rallied in
major cities of the country - Cairo, Luxor, Alexandria - seeking to ouster
President Hosni Mubarak whose three decades of rule is blamed for the country's
economic and social woes.

Law and order broke down and foreigners in the country, including more than
11,000 Malaysian students, feared for their lives.

When the Mubarak's regime tried to quell the uprising by shutting down
Internet and telecommunication lines, the Malaysian students had no way to
communicate back home.

As the situation deteriorated, their parents became worried and requested
the government to help evacuate their children from the country that is the home
of the great pyramids and the legacy of the pharaohs.

On Feb 1, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak decided the situation
warrants an immediate evacuation after receiving the feedback from an advance
party in Cairo headed by Deputy Foreign Minister A. Kohilan Pillay.

Thus the biggest evacuation exercise undertaken by Malaysia in a foreign
land was set in motion.

The exercise that was later named 'Ops Pyramid' roped in the expertise and
assets of the National Security Council (NSC), RMN, Royal Malaysian Air Force
(RMAF), 1Malaysia Putera Club, Lembaga Tabung Haji (Malaysia's Pilgrims Board
Fund) and airlines - AirAsia and Malaysia Airlines (MAS).


USING AIRCRAFT AS THE FASTEST WAY OUT

As time is essence in the evacuation process, the use of aircraft to bring
out the students to a transit point in Jeddah in Saudi Arabia or directly back
home was naturally the option.

The operation that started on Feb 2 initially involved two C-130s belonging
to RMAF but looking at the big number of students involved and the uncertainty
in Cairo, AirAsia and MAS were also enlisted to speed up the evacuation before
the condition in Egypt deteriorated further.

As a friendly gesture the Saudi government realising Malaysia's sense of
urgency contributed the services of two Saudi Airlines' Boeing 747 to bring the
students home.

The Bunga Mas 5, the same container vessel saved from the Somalian pirates
in the Gulf of Aden was also routed to Adabiya Port in south of Cairo to standby
in a worst case scenario. Luckily the flights provided by the aircraft were
adequate and the last batch was flown home on Feb 7.

The advance party that virtually put up at the Cairo airport also played an
important role in getting the landing rights for the Malaysian planes and
organise the departure of the students.


PEOPLE BEHIND THE SCENCE

As for all those involved in the operations it was a baptism of fire and an
honour to serve the country in time of need.

Deputy Chief Executive Officer AirAsia Bhd Kamarudin Meranun told Bernama it
was an honour to participate in the evacuation exercise.

"It is definitely a great sense of honour for us, especially when a civilian
airlines given the opportunity to participate in the exercise, we are grateful
for the recognition.

"It is not something that has been pre-planned, we gave our commitment
immediately when the government requested for our assistance," he said.

Meanwhile, the Tabung Haji also played an important role as its facilities
in Jeddah were used to accommodate the students who were in transit there.

Its CEO Ismee Ismail related to Bernama that Tabung Haji contributed its
expertise in managing the pilgrims in ensuring the success of the evacuation.

"It was not difficult for us to manage the students in Jeddaah as we have
managed bigger number of pilgrims from Malaysia there," he said.

Tabung Haji sent seven of its staff from Kuala Lumpur to assist its officers
based in Jeddah.

"We even recalled our officers in Jeddah who were on leave to help manage
the students," he said.


THE NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL AND FOREIGN MINISTRY'S ROLE

The Foreign Ministry operated a 24 hour operations room in Wisma Putra
(Foreign Ministry) to monitor the conditions in Egypt and the status of the
Malaysian students.

Students could call the operations room to inform of their status and
parents too could call to ask on their children’s status.

Meanwhile, National Security Council's secretary Mohamaed Thajudeen Abdul
Wahab said the council established safe zones in Egypt for the Malaysian
students to start the evacuation process.

The council also ordered the evacuation process to be carried out around the
clock to meet the deadline, especially when looking at the delays.

Even the 1Malaysia Putera Club lend a helping hand in providing food for
the hungry students and prepare the student manifest to facilliate their exit
from the nation.

Club president Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim noted that though it was no easy task
in a chaotic atmosphere, “we still managed it.”

"Thank god at last we successfully completed the mission despite the initial
difficulties.

"The cooperation of all parties helped to surmount the problems," he said.

Yet, there were some individuals who came on their own and even risked their
lives to help fellow Malaysians trapped in a country seeking a new destiny.