CAIRO: Over 150,000 Egyptian citizens have been evacuated from Libya since a violent uprising spread across the country in late February. Egyptians have been evacuated via land, sea, and air, said Mohamed Abdel-Hakam, Assistant Foreign Minister for Consular Affairs and Egyptians Abroad during a press conference. 14 flights on Saturday and 15 flights on Sunday were chartered to bring Egyptians from Tripoli to Cairo. Abdel-Hakam said the number non-Egyptians seeking refuge from Libya in Egypt has reached 30,000. He added that Egyptian and international combined to secure the return of the Egyptians without any problems and denied accusations that the Egyptian Embassy and its staff had failed in the evacuation of Egyptian citizens. The U.S. State Department announced that Washington has sent four U.S. warplanes to transfer 132 Egyptians from Tunisia. S spokesperson from the State Department said the U.S. could contribute $3 million to the efforts of the International Organization for Migration to provide humanitarian assistance to those displaced during the Libyan uprising. On Sunday, a statement issued by the Italian embassy in Cairo said an Italian military plane landed in Cairo airport on Sunday carrying around 100 Egyptians who had been stranded in Tunisia after fleeing the violence in Libya. Another plane arrived the day before, also carrying around 100 Egyptians. Last week the Italian government said it is taking steps to help the Egyptian government repatriate Egyptians. The Turkish government is sending a frigate and a naval ship to transfer 1,200 Egyptians from Libya to Alexandria, Egyptian state news agency MENA reported. It said the ships would arrive in Alexandria on Monday. Britain, France and Germany also plans to assist in airlifting Egyptians from Tunisia to Egypt. An estimated 1.5 million Egyptian workers reside in Libya, comprising the largest community of Egyptians abroad. BM
