UK rescue plane to Libya delayed

2011-02-23 18:58:29

24 February 2011 Last updated at 02:41 Share this page Delicious Digg Facebook reddit StumbleUpon Twitter Email Print Libya unrest: UK's first rescue flight arrives

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"Some we know have been subjected to attacks and looting," said Mr Hague. "They are in a perilous and frightening situation."

Stranded oil worker Jim Coyle told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "We are living every day in fear of our lives. We are living a nightmare here."

He said the workers had contacted British officials to warn them about the situation but nothing had happened.

"We have asked the British government to come here for days now and they are just totally ignoring us," he said.

"They don't reply to e-mails, they have cut off the phones to Tripoli. Basically we have been left without any protection whatsoever."

Chris Murphy and his wife arrived back in the UK on Wednesday afternoon. He said they had "fought their way" through crowds to get on the flight at Tripoli airport but when the plane took off, there were about 100 empty seats.

'Slow off mark'

A British woman said she and a Portuguese friend were helped out of the country by Portuguese embassy staff on Tuesday.

"There was nothing at all happening with the British Embassy. We felt very isolated and very out there on our own," the unidentified woman told BBC Radio 4's The World At One.

Shadow foreign secretary Douglas Alexander accused the UK government of being "slow off the mark" and said ministers should convene the emergency committee Cobra to co-ordinate the evacuation plans.

After a week of upheaval in Libya, protesters backed by defecting army units are thought to have almost the entire eastern half of Libya under their control.

The country's beleaguered leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, who has been in power for 42 years, has said enemies of Libya would be executed and vowed to fight to his "last drop of blood" rather than leave the country.

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