MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Lula back in Brasilia after botched flight

“It is inexplicable that the UN Security Council does not have the moral and political authority to make Israel sit at a table to talk,” said Lula about the current Middle East crisis

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is finally back in Brasilia since 10.12 am local time Wednesday after a second Brazilian Air Force (FAB) airplane was sent to Mexico City to pick him up alongside his entourage following a technical problem with the VC-1 Airbus A329CJ aircraft carrying him that resulted in an emergency landing.

 Before boarding the backup airplane, Lula addressed the situation in the Middle East: “What I deeply regret is the behavior of the Israeli government; sincerely, it is inexplicable that the UN Security Council does not have the moral and political authority to make Israel sit at a table to talk, instead of just knowing how to kill,” he told O Globo after attending Claudia Sheinbaum's inauguration as Mexico's first woman president.

Regarding the FAB's mission he ordered to rescue Brazilian nationals in war-torn Lebanon, Lula insisted it would be carried out wherever necessary, although the initial idea was to use Beirut's International Airport. On Wednesday, FAB sources confirmed that a KC-30 aircraft would be leaving Thursday with a stopover in Lisbon en route to the Lebanese capital as Israeli forces launched their land deployment Monday into the country to target the terrorist group Hezbollah.

Brazil's mission -named “Cedar Roots”- will also include physicians, nurses, and psychologists, to provide the South American country's nationals with everything they might need, the FAB also explained.

“The Embassy in Lebanon is taking the necessary steps to make the operation feasible, in permanent contact with the Brazilian community and close coordination with the local authorities,” Brazil's Foreign Ministry said earlier this week in a statement.

Last week, Israeli bombings in Lebanon caused the death of two Brazilian teenagers. The largest community of Brazilians in the Middle East is currently in Lebanon. In all, 21,000 Brazilians live in the country.