Britons in Tripoli urged to flee

2011-02-26 06:20:54

26 February 2011 Last updated at 14:24 Share this page Delicious Digg Facebook reddit StumbleUpon Twitter Email Print Libya unrest: Britons urged to flee Tripoli

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Mr Hague said: "There are now very few British nationals remaining in Tripoli. It's very important that those that remain go to the airport, that they do so at first light [on Saturday].With regards to those stranded in desert locations, Mr Hague added: "We are doing a lot of work on how we can help them. We can't say anything more about that at the moment."

Protesters have faced heavy gunfire in Tripoli as Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi has defied calls to stand down.

Fighting has raged for the past week between anti-government forces and pro-Gaddafi troops and militiamen in towns and cities outside the capital.

Since Thursday, Britons have arrived back in the UK on four FCO-chartered flights and one chartered by oil company BP.

Some 49 British nationals have also departed on a US ferry from Tripoli harbour.

The FCO, which is advising against all but essential travel to Libya, said it had directly helped about 450 British nationals to leave Libya so far, and facilitated the departure of another 150.

Continue reading the main story Find out more about the evacuation

Downing Street said the Prime Minister had spoken to a number of other European leaders about the situation and had agreed that urgent measures were required, including a tough sanctions package targetting the regime directly.

A spokesman for Mr Cameron said: "There was clear agreement that the actions of the Libyan regime were totally unacceptable and that brutality and intimidation would not be tolerated."

Continue reading the main story Foreign Office helplines The numbers for British nationals to call about charter flights out of Libya are 020 7008 0000 from the UK or 021 340 3644/45 from Libya

Meanwhile, anti-Gaddafi protesters demonstrated outside the Libyan embassy in London. Among them were members of the radical Islamic group Hizb-ut-Tahrir.

They waved placards calling for a return to what the demonstrators called the Islamic way of life.

Protesters outside the Libyan embassy in London

Nazim Ghani, a 40 year old Bangladeshi doctor living in east London said: "We want to see the end of these regimes in the Muslim world. We want to see real independence and the only way that will come is with a new Islamic system."

The numbers for British nationals to call about charter flights out of Libya are 020 7008 0000 from the UK or 021 340 3644/45 from Libya.

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