Ottawa man stranded in Iraq as latest conflict in the Middle East enters second week

A man from Ottawa says he’s stranded in Iraq with no way out of the region. CTV’s Kimberley Fowler reports.

The growing conflict in the Middle East has left thousands of Canadians stranded and asking for the federal government’s help to get home. Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand says flights are being booked for Canadians in Dubai and Beirut, but those in neighbouring countries, where the airspace is still closed, are trapped.

Ali Dhaif is an employee in the Bell Media Ottawa building and is currently stranded in Baghdad. The airport in Iraq has been shut down and he’s desperate to get home. For now, he has no way out of the region.

“I want to come home as soon as I can,” says Dhaif.

Getting caught up in the Middle East conflict is something Dhaif never expected.

“We’ve seen things in the sky. We heard airplanes on top of where we are at. I’m not sure if it’s the Iraqi Forces or the American Military,” says Dhaif.

He left Ottawa for Iraq in January to get married last month. Dhaif is now waiting to get his marriage license and is hoping to get on his scheduled flight out of Jordan back to Canada next week, but with the airspace closed, he doesn’t know when he’ll be able to get home.

The Canadian government has arranged transportation to help Canadians escape the conflict.

“My team is sourcing all means of transportation for Canadians to leave the region as a whole,” Anand said.

Dhaif is just one of over 108,000 Canadians who have registered with Global Affairs Canada in the region. So far, about 3,500 have asked for help from the government to get out.

“Step by step we are ensuring Canadians can leave through three means, either through our charter flights, through block booking on existing airlines and by ground transportation,” explains Anand. “Seaway is always another possibility, but we are cognizant of the dangers of traveling through this means of transportation at this time.”

Some Canadians were able to get back to Canada on a flight from Duabi to Toronto Friday morning, but no plans have been announced to get citizens like Dhaif safely out of Iraq.

“We will have to rent a driver with a car, and they would drive us to the Turkish borders. From there we need to figure it out… I don’t speak Turkish, and I don’t speak their language,” explains Dhaif.

Dhaif says he’s safe for now, hoping the conflict deescalates.

“If everything works perfectly, the war would end and I can catch my flight on (March) 12th, straight to Amman, Jordan, and from Jordan, straight to Montreal, and then I’ll be in Ottawa as soon as I can.”

Fow now, Dhaif waits and staying in contact with Canadian Officials to monitor the situation closely, in hopes that flights from the middle east will resume in the coming days.

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