Diplomatic contacts are under way with Tripoli as well as the US and its European allies to evacuate all Egyptian expatriate workers from Libya, a Foreign Ministry official said Thursday. The Foreign Ministry is trying to evacuate most of the Egyptians by ships from the Libyan seaports of as the ongoing bombing campaign against Muammar el-Gaddafi's forces may put the Egyptian expats in danger, Foreign Minister's Assistant for Counsular Affairs has said. "There Ministry is trying to get permissions from the Libyan authorities and allied forces to allow Egyptian ships dock at Misrata and Sirt to evacuate thousands of expatriates," Mohamed Abdul Hakam told a press conference. So far, Abdul Hakam continued, the Ministry has managed to repatriate more than 4,346 exapats from Libya since clashes out in the North African country last month. "We have called on the Libyan authorities to take note of recommendations made by the Foreign Ministry that urged all Egyptians to leave Libya for safety reasons as soon as possible," he said.
