253 Indonesians evacuated from Libya arrive in Tunisia

[News_Editor]

253 Indonesians evacuated from Libya arrive in Tunisia

2011-03-07 02:20:36 GMT+7 (ICT)

TRIPOLI (BNO NEWS) -- About 253 Indonesians were evacuated from Libya early Sunday after waiting more than 40 hours for an aircraft the Indonesian embassy had chartered, the Antara news agency reported.

Indonesian Ambassador to Libya Sanusi said the plane left Tripoli International Airport on Sunday at 00.30am local time and landed at Tunis International Airport about an hour and ten minutes later.

The travel documents and boarding passes of the Indonesian evacuees had been obtained since Friday morning but the chartered aircraft's landing permit was not soon issued by the Libyan authorities, he said.

"I, myself, have been at the Tripoli Airport since Saturday morning and keep getting in touch with the Tunis Air officials. They said they also got difficulties," he added, as cited by the news agency.

Indonesian Ambassador to Tunisia Muhammad Ibnu Said said he and his staff had been ready to welcome the evacuees since Friday but the flight was delayed due to unavailability of the Libyan authorities to issue a landing permit.

Thousands of foreign nationals are being evacuated from Libya as fighting increases. Libya has been plunged into chaos as massive anti-government protests continue nationwide, resulting in a violent crackdown by security forces which included aerial bombardments on protesters. Up to 2,000 people are believed to have been killed in the uprising.

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