India sends two aircraft to Libya to bring back its nationals

New Delhi, Feb 26 (PTI) India has begun the process of
evacuating its nationals stranded in troubled Libya by sending
two aircraft with total capacity of 640 passengers to Tripoli
besides despatching four ships.
The specially chartered Air India Boeing 747 with a
capacity of 360 passengers, and an Airbus 330 with a capacity
of 280, are en route to Tripoli and were to land shortly,
External Affairs Ministry said in a statement here.
The aircraft will return to New Delhi after picking up
passengers at Tripoli, it said.
Besides, two Naval ships -- INS Jalashwa and INS Mysore
-- set sail from Mumbai this morning for Libya. The sailing
time is about twelve days to Libya.
Another passenger ship with a capacity of 1600, presently
in the Mediterranean, is being chartered on Saturday and will
be pressed into service for assisting the departure of our
nationals out of Libya, the statement said.
Scotia Prince, another chartered ship, is scheduled to
depart for Benghazi (Libya) from Port Said (Egypt) on Saturday
at 2000 hrs and is likely to arrive at its destination by the
afternoon of February 28. The ship has a capacity of 1200
passengers.
The Ministry said it has positioned additional personnel
at the Indian Embassy in Tripoli to help in the process.
There are around 18,000 Indians in Libya and the
government is concerned about their well-being in view of the
deteriorating situation in the country following a popular
uprising.
INS Jalashwa is the largest available ship with the
Indian Navy, which can be used for carrying out humanitarian
efforts of this kind. The over 27,000 tonnes ship can carry
more than 1000 passengers and has adequate medical facilities.
Both the ships -- INS Jalashwa and INS Mysore -- have
been specially equipped for the task with full medical
facilities such as operation theatre, doctors and paramedics.
The ships are also carrying helicopters and a contingent of
marine Special Forces personnel.
The ships will evacuate Indian nationals from Libya to
either Malta or Egypt, from where they will be transferred by
air to India.
In July 2006, the Indian Navy had similarly evacuated
over 2500 Indians, PIOs and some foreign nationals from
Lebanon following the war between Israel and the Hezbollah.
Induction of INS Jalashwa since then has significantly
enhanced the capability of the Indian Navy to undertake such
humanitarian missions.