Libya unrest: India begins evacuation

New Delhi:  The evacuation of Indians from violence-torn Libya began today with two Air India flights leaving for Tripoli early this morning from New Delhi and Mumbai.

India has been allowed by Libya to fly in special planes to collect Indian citizens. Currently 18,000 Indians are in Libya - if they want to leave the country, the government will assist them with special ships and planes.

From today till March 7, India can land two planes a day in Tripoli for its evacuation operations. Today, two Air India flights will fly out people from Tripoli.

India is also moving three Navy ships to Benghazi, which is where the revolt against Mr Gaddafi began. From Benghazi, ships will transport Indians to Alexandria in Egypt. Special Air India flights will then bring them home.
The government has clarified that citizens do not have to pay for their evacuation. A statement from the Ministry of External Affairs on Friday said, "It has come to notice that some unscrupulous elements are asking for payments/handling charges/facilitation fee etc., for arranging evacuation of Indian nationals, through the Embassy of India in Libya. These activities are completely illegal and individuals engaged in them should be immediately reported to the law enforcement authorities."

Meanwhile, a group of Indians employed in Libya have fled across the border into Tunisia saying basic needs cannot be met in the Libyan town of Zawiyah, where there has been heavy fighting between forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, and his opponents who want to end his 41-year rule.

There is an acute scarcity of food and water in Zawiyah as the situation in Libya worsens.

"The situation is very bad. Everything we need is not available. Water is not available and food is not available in Zawiyah," said one of the Indian workers.

Libyan forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi attacked anti-regime protesters with machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades at a mosque leaving nearly 100 people dead.

"Clear violations of human rights have taken place. It is time for Security Council to take action against Libyan government," United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon said.

The United States closed its embassy in Tripoli on Friday and imposed unilateral sanctions against Libya, including the freezing of billions in government assets. The United Kingdom and France are also pushing for a war crimes probe by the International Criminal Court at The Hague. So will India back such a call and support the slapping of sanctions? India's response still seems to be evolving, perhaps complicated by the fact that the evacuations of Indians has just begun. In response to a question from NDTV, Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao said in a tweet, "Deplore violence against civilian population. Engaged on the issue in UN. India is not in the International Criminal Court."