ICRC: ACCESS FOR HUMANITARIAN AID AGENCIES RESTRICTED IN MOST PARTS OF LIBYA

KUALA LUMPUR, March 25 (Bernama) -- The International Committee of the Red
Cross (ICRC) is concerned with the plight of civilians living in battle zones in
Libya and urged everyone involved in the fight to facilitate humanitarian aid.

"There is no respite for civilians living in the battle zones in Libya. Amid
air strikes by international forces, heavy fighting continues between government
troops and the armed opposition at various locations. Access for humanitarian
aid agencies remains restricted in most parts of the country," the organization
said on its website.

Head of the ICRC mission in Libya, Simon Brooks, said that it was unclear
how civilians are faring in the areas affected by hostilities.

"And that's a source of great concern to us. We're getting alarming reports
from cities like Ajdabiya and Misrata, where the conflict has been raging for
weeks now," he said, adding that doctors in affected cities were struggling
under extremely difficult conditions to keep patients alive.

Boris Michel, who heads the organization’s operations in northern and
western Africa, described the need to facilitate humanitarian aid as urgent.

"Humanitarian organizations need safe access to war-affected areas and
medical personnel and ambulances have to be allowed to reach the wounded," he
said.

The ICRC said that on Wednesday, five more ICRC expatriate staff reached
Benghazi to join the team that had returned to that city on March 18.

In recent days, delegates have been allowed to visit two wounded government
soldiers held by the opposition. In a village north of Ajdabiya close to the
fighting, ICRC staff distributed first-aid and dressing kits to help the local
population treat the wounded.

Meanwhile, seven trucks delivered 145 tonnes of rice, sugar, oil, lentils
and salt to the eastern city of Tobruk, which will serve as a reserve, capable
of feeding tens of thousands of people should the need arise.

Together with the Libyan Red Crescent, the ICRC organised the safe transfer
of a group of more than 500 foreign nationals and their families from Benghazi
to the Egyptian border.

The ICRC continues to help people at the Egyptian and Tunisian borders to
contact their worried families.

The organization is working alongside the International Federation of Red
Cross and Red Crescent Societies to support the efforts of the Egyptian and
Tunisian Red Crescent Societies, which are providing essential services for
people arriving from Libya.