23) Kevin Graingur (UK)
24) Marla Sanchez Pietton (France)
25) Akram Jassem Mohammad (Iraq)
26) Mohammad Abdel-Rahman Saii (Syria)
Lebanese Nationals:
1) Hanna Nakhoul Kreidy, born on 26/6/1987
2) Haidar Hassan Marji, born on 7/11/1976
3) Ali Youssef Jaber, born on 2/4/1967
4) Ali Ahmad Jaber, born on 5/8/1969
5) Abbas Mohammad Jaber, born on 13/7/1977
6) Mohammad Mustapha Badawi, born on 5/9/1970
7) Khalil Ibrahim Salah, born on 5/9/1961
8 Hassan Adnan Kreik, born on 25/1/1984
9) Saeed Abdel-Hassan Zahr, born on 5/10/1984
10) Hussein Ali Farhat, born on 25/1/1966
11) Mohammad Hassan Kreik, born on 14/10/2006
12) Ali Souheil Yaghi, born on 28/6/1973
13) Rawan Hassan Wazni, born on 27/6/1990
14) Bassem Qassem Khazaal, born on 10/3/1974
15) Haifa Ahmad Wazni, born on 25/10/1967
16) Ali Ahmad Tajeddine, born on 3/4/1979
17) Tanal Abdallah Fardoun, born on 1/2/1952
18) Mustapha Haitham Arnaout, born on 16/9/1986
19) Fouad Mahmoud Lakiss, born on 25/8/1946
20) Mohammad Kamal Akkoush, born on 23/12/1983
21) Toni Elias Zakhem, born on 18/6/1976
22) Hamzah Ali Jaafar, born on 31/5/1985
23) Hassan Mohammad Issaoui, born on 22/11/1951
24) Hassan Kamal Ibrahim, born on 13/12/1973
25) Ghassan Ibrahim Katerji, born on 15/12/1964
26) Haifa Ibrahim Farran, born on 25/9/1965
27) Hussein Youssef Hajj Ali, born on 26/7/1968
28) Fares Rashid Zebian, born on 28/9/1955
29) Farid Saad Moussa, born on 3/6/1966
30) Mohammad Ali Khatibi, born on 27/12/1989
31) Yasser Youssef Mahdi, born on 25/8/1985
32) Anis Mustapha Safa, born in 1941
33) Hussein Moussa Barakat, born on 16/12/1983
34) Antoine Toufic Hayek, born on 30/5/1965
35) Elias Antonios Rafih, born on 29/5/1959
36) Tarek George Barakat, born on 21/10/1971
37) Khalil Naji Khazen, born on 20/6/1967
38) Rana Youssef Harakeh, born on 1/2/1980
39) Mohammad Abdel-Hussein Hajj, born on 24/1/1957
40) Julia Mohammad Hajj, born on 2/8/2007
41) Hussein Kamal Hayek, born on 15/11/1977
42) Assaad Massoud Feghali, born on 22/4/1965
43) Ziad Naeem Ksaifi, born on 5/10/1974
44) Reda Ali Mastoukirdi, born on 31/3/1968
45) Albert Jerji Assal, born on 4/11/1959
46) Imad Ahmad Hather, born on 13/5/1980
47) Fouad Mohammad Jaber, born on 6/5/1957
48) Khalil Mohammad Madani, born on 1/12/1968
49) Hasan Mohammad Abdel- Hassan Tajeddine, born on 15/8/1960
50) Yasser Abedel-Hussein Ismail, born on 1/4/1973
51) Jamal Ali Khatoun, born on 5/11/1973
52) Afif Krisht (Lebanese British), born on 29/4/1954
53) Abbas Hawili (Lebanese Canadian), born on 2/11/1945
54) Anna Mohammad Abbs (Lebanese Russian), born on 23/1/1973
BEIRUT, Lebanon (Los Angeles Times) Airlines flight that crashed into the sea early Monday during a fierce winter storm.
The Boeing 737-800 bound for Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s capital, was carrying eight crew members and 82 passengers when it crashed into the Mediterranean shortly after takeoff from Beirut amid hail and thunder. The U.S.-born wife of the French ambassador to Lebanon was among the passengers.
Authorities have yet to find the flight data and voice recorders, or black boxes, that could yield clues about the cause of the crash. But officials said the ferocious overnight storm that blanketed the small country’s mountains with snow was likely a major factor.
“Bad weather was apparently the cause of the crash,” said Defense Minister Elias Murr, according to local news outlets. “We have ruled out foul play so far.”
Lebanon’s airport has been a subject of controversy because of allegations that the Shiite Muslim political group maintains a security presence there to oversee the importation of weapons. No flights originating in Lebanon land in North America, largely because of security concerns.
But Lebanese and Ethiopian officials quickly discounted the possibility of terrorism or sabotage in the downing of the plane. A spokesman for the Addis Ababa government said the airline had received no prior threats.
You are hereby warned; you are being given notice of your eviction from the country. You are no longer welcome here. Find a new place to live. We do not care where. All we want is your land, water and resources. They are no longer yours; but now are ours. If you resist, you will suffer the consequences. On the other hand, if you are willing to become part of a neo-slave labor force or to silently give up any claims to anything, you may stay as long as you are useful and compliant. We and our partners stand to make millions, if not billions, from this new economic investment and we will tolerate NO interference from you! Truly not yours, The Anti-Ethiopian TPLF/EPRDF government of the few elite and entitled
The grabbing of fertile land going on in Ethiopia is not just rhetoric, fear mongering or in one’s imagination; but instead, it is real and happening at a ferocious pace all over the country. It will change Ethiopia forever and the major damage may be done by the end of 2010. We in the SMNE covered some of ways it has already impacted Ethiopians in our New Year’s article, Reflection Brings Questions read more…. Since then, we have seen additional alarming reports in the media and received new information from the ground. What we conclude is unless Ethiopians act quickly to stop this, we will no longer have a country to call our own.
Why in the world would a government sell off its land and natural resources, much of which will be exported, especially being a beggar nation that feeds many of its people with food grown in foreign countries? It defies common sense, which makes it all the more dangerous. In the SMNE, we cannot be silent during this abusive exploitation and move towards making Ethiopia a slave state. Our family members have been displaced while foreigners are thriving. One can see that what this government wants is the land and resources but not the people.
Ethiopians, whose ancestors have lived for centuries on the same land, are discovering that they no longer have any rights to it. Ethiopians, especially the most marginalized, are at risk of being evicted from their ancestral lands as it is being leased for almost nothing—and for many decades—to Ethiopian-owned and foreign-owned multi-national corporations, countries, banks and wealthy individuals. Businesses or investments owned by the ruling party, their family members and their supporting friends, both Ethiopians and non-Ethiopians, are capitalizing on this new opportunity to exploit new money-making schemes, only available to political and financial supporters of the Marxist-Leninist leaning Ethiopian government that still prohibits its own citizens from owning land.
This betrayal of the Ethiopian people is being carried out by a greedy group at the top, willing to exercise its military brute strength to get its way; on the other hand, the way it is being executed reveals the desperation of a tottering government, willing to go to any means to get the necessary hard currency needed to better shore up their loosening control of the country. This is a legitimate concern on their part due to the increasing anger of the people; yet, these actions are simply fueling more anger that will require more force and money to contain.
From the reaction we are seeing to this newest wave of shocking violations of the peoples’ rights, the Ethiopian Constitution, international human rights laws and God-given universal moral laws, it is only increasing the inevitability that this regime will eventually be ousted.
The objections of the Ethiopian people are not about economic growth and development, foreign and private investment or capitalism in general if these were undergirded by appropriate legal protections and procedures. Instead, their objections are about the exploitation of the people, many of the most vulnerable, who are being robbed of all they own while the government threatens them into submission; sometimes literally holding a gun to their heads. This is happening all over the country.
Look at these few pictures from Gambella, showing some of the 200 pieces of construction and agricultural equipment which have recently arrived in Gambella town, purchased by Mohammed Ali Al-Amoudi’s company, Saudi Star Agricultural Company, which now leases 10,000 hectares of land—just a start since he supposedly wants some 250,000 hc in total. Five hundred trucks are said to be arriving in February, just a portion of an additional 1500 to 2000 trucks said to be in the plans.
In the Abobo area of the Gambella region, Al-Amoudi has already started clearing the ground. The location he is now clearing was land held by the Federal government as a natural reserve for wild life. The local people have been told to not speak to outsiders. We also have reports that Al-Amoudi had a meeting with the governor, Omod Obang Olom, where he told him he wanted the Anuak in the Diaspora to be silenced; saying he was willing to hire (bribe) people from the Diaspora who could counter any claims of exploitation with claims that this was going to benefit the people.
Al-Amoudi is now also destroying forests in the Mazengir area, located in the area of Gomerra on the border between Gambella and the Southern Nations.
In Ilea, 35 K east of Gambella town, where the East Indian company, Karuturi Global, is clearing thousands of hectares of some of the most fertile Anuak indigenous land, he is in the process, cutting down the valuable Shea trees, which are a rich source of high quality cooking oil, lotions and food.
Gambella is one of the few remaining areas where Shea trees can still be found in Africa, trees that take twenty years to reach maturity. These trees were the focus of study at Addis Ababa University, where researchers recommended that this area become a protected reserve, but now Karuturi has fourteen tractors working daily to destroy this precious and endangered natural resource.
Even more upsetting to the Anuak is the clearing and destruction of Anuak burial ground. However, they are afraid to speak up in protest because if they do, the government will arrest them. The company has joined with the government in also warning the people to not talk about all of this at risk of being arrested and losing their jobs. Instead, they have been told, if a reporter approached them with such questions as to whether they would be receiving any compensation for their land, they were to say that the company was planning to do something in the future. However, no contracts or agreements have been signed and no details given.
The Meles government has now requested 90,000 hectares of land close to Gambella town, for their own use. In fact, what they are doing is claiming this land for EPRDF government supporters. Now, people from anywhere in the country, as well as those living in the Diaspora, can go to the Ethiopian Embassy, pay $500 and receive a yellow identification card, giving him or her, the right to invest in Ethiopia.
Now, many of these people are coming into Gambella and making formal requests for this land. In other words, someone from the EPRDF can say they want a certain amount of land, but do not have to pay for it. Instead, they are given a certificate that they now own this land, giving them “the capital” to now borrow money from the Ethiopian bank to pay off the land loan and even invest in another business.
At the same time, the indigenous people of Gambella are being displaced from their land, get no compensation for it and no opportunity to obtain such loans; particularly if they are not EPRDF members—members who will of course, later be expected to vote for the ruling party in the upcoming election!
While this is all going on, for the first time in memory, the self-sufficient people of Gambella are experiencing a drought and many are threatened with hunger and starvation just as their lands are being taken over by outsiders. Meles alleges that the Gambella regional government gave him the green light to assume control over the leasing of the land because the people of Gambella are too uneducated to do it. However, when you ask the people, even those in some positions of authority in Gambella, they will tell you that the government simply took over the land without ever consulting them.
But by now, you know, everything done by the government of Ethiopia is based on deceit. When Meles calls the people of Gambella uneducated, he fails to mention the fact that there is not a single university or college in the entire region; despite the building of many universities in his own Tigrean region and other regions since he came to power twenty years ago. He also fails to explain why his government troops targeted the most educated leaders in the Anuak massacre of December 13-15, 2003. Marginalization of the people in coveted sections of the country can mean “exploitive opportunity” for shrewdly manipulative leaders like Meles; yet, it leaves the silenced people, victims of an apartheid system, similar to South Africa.
The people of Gambella will say that this land was not given to us by Meles, by Meles’ father or by his mother, but by God. As one Anuak summed it up, “Our pain is internal. We are bleeding from the inside from everything we see around us daily. How long before it explodes, I don’t know, but when it does, I don’t know what price any of us will pay—we the owners of the land or those who are exploiting us. Time will tell.”
This discrimination is immoral and shameful and only creates more simmering tensions among the people that could erupt someday. We have heard that the same thing has been going on for even longer in Welkayit Tegede, a very fertile part of the Amhara region. Victims of these land grabs are forced to stand by while their ancestral land is given away and their children pushed aside. Now, in the Welkayit Tegede area, formerly the Amhara region, but in the process of being acquired by the Tigrean region, everyone, for the first time, is required to speak Tigrean. If they refuse or are unable to comply, they are told to leave the area and go to the Amhara region. Most of the people in Welkayit Tegede have already lost their ancestral land this way.
In the southeastern part of Ethiopia, a recent conflict erupted between civilians and militias, loyal to the ruling party. It occurred in the Ogadeni province of Shiniile following a protest over the government’s confiscation of 60,000 hectares of the most fertile land, allegedly sold—or leased—to a Chinese consortium or to highlanders, migrating to the region.
These are just a few reports, but the same thing is going on in the Afar region, in Beninshangul-Gumuz, in Oromia, in Southern Nations and wherever there is desirable land or resources. Reports have included allegations by the new Ethiopian laborers that they are not being treated with respect.
I was told about a man working on a farm in Bako outside of Addis Ababa who demanded better treatment for the local people from their East Indian company, Karuturi Global, employer. The East Indian man accused him of having an attitude and asked him about what tribe he belonged to, accusing him of being an Amhara. He said, “We were told that the Amhara are the stubborn, control-freaks and that this is not your time.” He fired the man. Who told this man such prejudicial opinions about the ethnicity of Ethiopians?
Ethiopia—the land, the water, the resources and the people—are now being sold to the highest bidder by none other than their own government under the dictatorial leadership of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi—a “neo-slave trader” of the 21st century. Human beings have been sold since the beginning of time; often by those closest to them, but as a society, most of us hoped this was in the past.
Jesus was betrayed by Judas who “turned on him” for thirty pieces of silver. Joseph, one of the patriarchs of the Bible, respected by Jews, Muslims and Christians, was sold by his own brothers for twenty shekels of silver to slave traders going to Egypt.
During the years of African slavery, it was usually not the western slave traders who captured the Africans to be sold; but instead, it was opportunistic Africans who preyed on other “tribes” they devalued or with whom they competed, making profitable deals for themselves at the expense of these other human lives. We know the rest of that tragic story that only came to an end when people of moral and political will stood up against this structural evil.
During the invasion of Ethiopia by Mussolini’s Italy in 1934-1941, there were Ethiopians who took bribes from the Italians and betrayed Ethiopia for a price. None of this is new, but unfortunately, we now have new turncoats and slavers in our midst and it is the EPRDF government of Meles. The inherent reason for government is to protect its people and to enhance their well being; however, in Ethiopia, the opposite is true. The people need protection from this oppressive government that uses force, lies and a perversion of justice to confiscate anything they want. If the people get in the way, they are expendable.
If we, the people of Ethiopia do not quickly take action, Ethiopians living on their ancestral land will soon be considered trespassing and the laws of a corrupted land will evict them. Ethiopia will no longer be owned by Ethiopians, but will be under the control of outsiders and a handful of elite. We will either have to leave the country or become the neo-slaves of the 21st century. This is intolerable and unacceptable. What would possess a leader of a country to do this?
Everything he is doing is a contradiction between talk and action. A month ago Meles was in Copenhagen begging for billions of dollars to protect the African forests, but here he is in Ethiopia, destroying our forests and giving the land away for nothing rather than feeding Ethiopians. It is immoral. It is time for all Ethiopians to stand together to stop this craziness. This should unify all, including the many people fighting in liberation fronts: the Gambella Liberation Front, Ogaden National Liberation Front, the Oromo Liberation Front, the Afar Liberation Front, the Sidamo Liberation Front and the Benishangul Liberation Front. If we do not act together now, you may not have a region to liberate for by the time you do, it may already have been sold to the Chinese, India, Saudi Arabia or some other country.
This is the time for all of us to come together and to stand up as one people to save the country. Let us save our people from being sold into slavery. The land belongs to all of us and is where our ancestors are buried. This should unify us.
This savage attitude of Meles must be stopped so for those who are in liberation fronts and for those who are not; let us liberate our thinking from tribalism and free the country! Fighting alone is what gives Meles the green light to do what may quickly become irreversible damage.
We do not have the luxury of remaining separate anymore for if we do, we will be finished. Then we will share in defeat. Instead, let us reconcile and stand together as one nation of people who will value each other, passing on a blessing rather than a curse to our descendents. May God help us and save Ethiopia from destruction!
(Please do not hesitate to email me if you have comments: [email protected])
An Ethiopian Airlines plane with 90 people on board crashed into the sea shortly after taking off from Beirut in stormy weather early on Monday. The airline’s chief executive said there was no word of survivors.
The Boeing 737-800, heading for the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa, disappeared off the radar about five minutes after taking off at 2:37 am local time (0037 GMT) during a thunder storm and heavy rain.
Lebanese President Michel Suleiman ruled out foul play.
“As of now, a sabotage act is unlikely. The investigation will uncover the cause,” Suleiman told a news conference.
Fourteen bodies have so far been recovered near the crash site three-and-a-half km (two miles) west of the coastal village of Na’ameh. Eighty-three passengers and seven crew were on the flight, Transport Minister Ghazi al-Aridi said at the airport.
Marla Pietton, wife of the French ambassador to Lebanon Denis Pietton, was one of those aboard, the French embassy said.
Besides Pietton, the passenger list included 54 Lebanese, 22 Ethiopian and two British nationals, according to airline officials. Other nationals included a French Canadian, a Russian, an Iraqi and a Syrian.
‘Ball of fire’
As the Lebanese government declared a day of mourning, Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri visited the airport to meet distraught relatives waiting for news.
Some of the family members were angry that the plane was allowed to take off in bad weather. Heavy rains and storms have caused flooding and damage in some parts of the country over the past few days.
“They should have delayed the flight for an hour or two to protect the passengers. There had been strong lightning bolts and we hear of lighting strikes at planes especially during take-offs,” a relative of one of the passengers told a local television station.
Meanwhile, FRANCE 24’s Lucy Fielder reported from Beirut that witnesses saw “a ball of fire descending into the sea.”
Fielder said a “massive rescue operation” was underway, as Lebanese army patrol boats and helicopters searched a small area off Na’ameh, 10 km (six miles) south of Beirut.
The military spokesman for UN peacekeepers in Lebanon, Colonel Diego Fulco, said two ships from its maritime task force were at the crash site and a third was on its way. Two UN helicopters were also at the scene, he said.
According to a Lebanese defence ministry official, the US has offered a P-3 aircraft to assist in the search operation, and the French organisation responsible for technical investigation of civil aviation accidents was assisting in the probe.
An unusual accident for Ethiopian Airlines
State-owned Ethiopian Airlines has positioned itself as a major player in international air traffic in Africa and has recently expanded its Asian network.
It has regular flights to Lebanon, catering to business clients and the hundreds of Ethiopians who work there as domestic helpers.
In an interview with FRANCE 24, David Learmount, aviation expert and an editor at Flight International, a magazine on the industry, expressed his surprise at the events.
“Ethiopian Airlines has, until this, been absolutely a beacon of light,” he said. “It’s got an exceptional safety record.”
Learmount also noted that the plane that went down was “from the latest version of the 737 series”, making the crash even more unusual. “We have a first-class airline and a first-class airplane, and there’s been an accident,” he said.
The last major incident involving Ethiopian Airlines was in November 1996 when 125 of the 175 passengers and crew died after a hijacked Boeing 767 crashed into the sea off the Comoros Islands.
The airline’s website carries this statement: “Ethiopian Airlines regrets to confirm the unfortunate accident of ET-409 which took place shortly after departure from Beirut International Airport today January 25, 2010.”
It added that an investigative team had already arrived at the scene.
The airline company supplied the following numbers for people seeking additional information about the crash: +251 11 517 8766, +251 91 150 1248, +251 11 517 8028, +251 11 517 8054, +251 11 517 8025, +251 11 517 8030, +251 91 125 5577, +251 91 120 3412 or the Ethiopian Airlines toll free number: +251 11 662 0062
We’re told the US Navy is part of an international effort to find any survivors of the Ethiopian Air Lines crash off Beirut Lebanon. The 6th Fleet guided missile destroyer USS Ramage which was on maneuvers in the area is involved, as is a P-3 Orion maritime search and rescue aircraft.
The airline is saying no Americans were on the flight. There was a total of 90 people on board and feared dead. The majority of them are Lebanese and Ethiopian. There were two Britons, a French person and a Canadian.
A US official does tell us, though, that there are many “dual nationals” in Beirut, that is, those carrying both Lebanese and American passports, they don’t always show up on first review, so the last word on this will have to wait.
As for cause, locals tell us it was a stormy night in Lebanon and bad weather is being looked at as the principal cause.
Right now terror or sabotage is being ruled oiut.
Mechanical fault can’t be ruled out, although the type of aircraft, the 737-800, is durable. The New York-based CIT Aerospace firm which actually leased the plane to Ethiopian Airlines referred questions back to the firm.
The Beirut Airport is built right up against the densely populated outskirts of the city. New video indicates two flashes came from the plane over land but the craft went down into the sea. A tragedy could have been worse.
Lebanese rescue teams Monday recovered 10 bodies from the wreckage of an Ethiopian airliner that plunged into the Mediterranean Sea minutes after takeoff in heavy rains and storms from the Beirut International Airport earlier in the day.
“We have so far found 10 bodies at the crash site off the coast of Naameh, 7 miles (12 kilometers) south of the Beirut airport,” an unidentified defense ministry official told a local news agency. (RTTNews)
An Ethiopian Airlines flight 409 with 90 people on board crashed into the sea shortly after taking off from Beirut in bad weather early on Monday.
Ethiopian Airlines chief executive Ato Girma Wake said a team of eight people from Derbyshire-based crisis management company Blake Emergency Services, which specialises in airline incidents, was travelling to Beirut.
Local media quoted Lebanese army officials as saying that seven survivors had been rescued.
However, according to other reports, police officers said there had been two survivors. The conflicting reports of survivors were not confirmed by the UN or government officials.
Confirmation of the loss of the flight came from the operator in Addis Ababa.
“Ethiopian flight ET-409 scheduled to operate from Beirut to Addis Ababa on January 25 lost contact with the Lebanese air controllers shortly after takeoff. The flight departed at 02.35 Lebanese time from Beirut International Airport,” the airline said in a statement.
The aircraft carried 51 Lebanese nationals, 23 Ethiopians, as well as Iraqi, Syrian, British,and French nationals, the minister said. One of the passengers is believed to be the wife of the French ambassador in Beirut.
Lebanon’s President Michel Suleiman described the incident as “painful”. Suleiman put all medical and security forces on maximum alert.
Lebanese army patrol boats and helicopters were searching a small area off Na’ameh, 10 km (six miles) south of Beirut.
The military spokesman for U.N. peacekeepers in Lebanon, Colonel Diego Fulco, said two ships from its maritime task force were at the crash site and a third was on its way. Two U.N. helicopters were also at the scene, he said.
A Cypriot police helicopter and another from the British military stationed in Cyprus were also involved in the search.
According to one source, residents on the coast saw a “ball of fire” crashing off Na’ameh.
State-owned Ethiopian Airlines, which confirmed the crash, has positioned itself as a major player in international air traffic in Africa and has recently expanded its Asian network.
It has regular flights to Lebanon, catering for business clients and the hundreds of Ethiopians who work there as domestic helpers. Lebanese aviation sources said some of the passengers had been en route to Angola.
Last Friday the airline announced an order for 10 of Boeing’s Next-Generation 737-800s for a total price of $767 million.
The last major incident involving Ethiopian Airlines was in November 1996 when 125 of the 175 passengers and crew died after a hijacked Boeing 767 crashed into the sea off the Comoros Islands.
One airport official said the plane was struck by lightning before it fell into the sea.
The Boeing aircraft disappeared off the radar screens shortly after takeoff, the state-run Lebanese National News Agency reported.
Witnesses in the area said they heard a loud noise and then saw a plane on fire plunging into the water.
Rescue teams were seen gathering near the area where the plane reportedly crashed.
“The weather is not helping us at all,” a member of the rescue team said. “But we hope to find some survivors.”
Aridi said the crash site had been identified at 3.5 km west of the coastal village of Na’ameh.
The Boeing 737-800, heading for Addis Ababa, disappeared off the radar some five minutes after taking off at 2:37 a.m. (0037 GMT) during a thunder storm and heavy rain. Lebanese President Michel Suleiman said he did not think the plane had been brought down deliberately.
“As of now, a sabotage act is unlikely. The investigation will uncover the cause,” Suleiman told a news conference.
Eighty-three passengers and seven crew were on the flight, Lebanese Transport Minister Ghazi al-Aridi told reporters at the airport where relatives of the passengers gathered to wait for news of survivors.
“(The crash) site has been identified three-and-a-half km (two miles) west of the (coastal) village of Na’ameh,” he said.
Fifty-four of those on board were Lebanese, 22 were Ethiopian, two were British and there were also Canadian, Russian, French, Iraqi and Syrian nationals.
Marla Pietton, wife of the French ambassador to Lebanon Denis Pietton, was on the plane, the French embassy said. The Lebanese government has declared a day of mourning.
The U.K. Foreign Office said one British national and one with dual nationality were on board Flight ET409.
No further details about the two people would be released until next of kin had been informed, it added.
A Foreign Office spokeswoman said: “Our thoughts are with the families of all those involved in this tragedy.”
At least 21 bodies have been recovered, and there has been no news of anyone surviving the crash.
An RAF helicopter, based in Cyprus, has joined the Lebanese authorities’ search-and-rescue operation.
