EU to evacuate 10,000 Europeans from Libya

Feb 23, 2011 |

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Brussels: The EU stands ready to evacuate 10,000 Europeans stranded in Libya in the next hours and day, including by sea, the European Commission said on Wednesday.

A spokesman for the commission, the European Union's executive arm, said an estimated 10,000 Europeans remained in Libya.

Member states had begun pulling citizens out and "the commission stands ready to help with the MIC (Monitoring and Information Centre) in putting extra evacuation capacity", including by sea, "in the next hours, days," said spokesman Olivier Bailly.

The MIC, operated by the European Commission in Brussels, is the operational heart of the EU's mechanism for civil protection. It operates on a 24/7 basis and any country affected by a major disaster inside or outside the EU can launch a request for assistance through the MIC.

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