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Foreign Countries Send Planes, Ships to Libya to Evacuate Foreigners

   VOA News  February 22, 2011
   A  Jordanian woman evacuated from Tripoli is received by her family as
   she  arrives  in  Queen  Alia Airport near Amman, Jordan, February 21,
   2011

Photo: AP

   A  Jordanian woman evacuated from Tripoli is received by her family as
   she  arrives  in  Queen  Alia Airport near Amman, Jordan, February 21,
   2011

   Britain's  foreign secretary says his country has redeployed a warship
   closer  to  Libya to aid in the evacuation effort, as governments sent
   air  planes  and  ships  to pick up their citizens stranded by Libya's
   bloody unrest.
   William  Hague says the Royal Navy warship HMS Cumberland has been put
   on  standby  to  help  Britons  return  home  from Libya, should it be
   needed.
   European  countries  and Libya's neighbors are evacuating thousands of
   foreign  citizens trying to flee deadly violence triggered by a Libyan
   uprising against longtime leader Moammar Gadhafi.
   Italy's   ENI   natural   gas   company  says  it  is  evacuating  all
   non-essential staff and their families from the country Tuesday.  The
   Associated  Press reports that ENI is Libya's largest foreign operator
   and takes one-third of Libya's oil and gas production.
   Meanwhile, the Netherlands and France have confirmed that their planes
   received  permission  to  land  in the city of Tripoli, but the French
   news  agency,  AFP, reports that one of France's three planes has been
   diverted to Malta. Â
   Egyptian  Foreign  Minister  Ahmed  Aboul  Gheit said Tuesday Cairo is
   sending  military and civilian aircraft to Libya to bring home some of
   the  hundreds  of thousands of Egyptians who live there.  But he said
   the Egyptian planes would not be landing in the eastern Libyan city of
   Benghazi - one of the cities hit hardest by the violence - because its
   airport has been destroyed.  He did not elaborate.
   Egyptian security sources say Cairo's new military rulers also ordered
   troop  reinforcements  to  Egypt's  side  of  the border with Libya in
   response  to  the  Libyan  unrest.   Egyptian  authorities  also have
   extended  the opening hours of the Slum border crossing with Libya and
   sent  medical  teams to the site to accommodate thousands of Egyptians
   fleeing by land.
   The  Turkish  government  says it has sent several ships to the Libyan
   coast  to  pick up thousands of Turkish workers stranded in Benghazi.Â
   Many of the Turkish citizens gathered in a Benghazi stadium Tuesday as
   they waited for the ships to arrive at the city's port.
   Turkey  says  it has 25,000 citizens in Libya, many of them working in
   construction.   Tunisia says more than 3,000 of its nationals already
   have fled Libya, mostly by land, and more are waiting to leave by air.
   The Philippines said Tuesday it will help Philippine workers trying to
   leave  Libya by paying for their flights.  At least 26,000 Philippine
   citizens  reside  there.  South Korea also urged its workers in Libya
   to  return  home  after looters attacked several South Korean-operated
   construction sites.
   The  U.S.  State  Department  issued a warning Monday for Americans to
   defer  all  travel to Libya due to the ongoing unrest, and urged those
   in  the  country to limit their movements and seek shelter, especially
   after dark.

   Some information for this report was provided by AP.
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