Greece prepares to evacuate citizens from Libya
Greece has put together an evacuation plan for Greeks living in Libya and is trying to arrange for airplanes to land at four airports to pick people up, Deputy Foreign Minister Dimitris Dollis has told Skai TV.
Dollis said that there are about 300 Greeks living and working in Libya and that the government is making an effort to contact as many of them as possible through its embassies or the companies that employ them.
The evacuation plan follows several days of protests in various Libyan cities against the regime of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, who has been in power since 1969.
It is estimated that more than 200 people have been killed since public protests against Gaddafi began, as clashes between demonstrators and security forces spread throughout the country, including in the capital Tripoli
The United Nations Security Council is to meet in closed session on Tuesday to discuss Libya.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon made the announcement, after speaking to Col Gaddafi on Monday.
“I urged him that the human rights and freedom of assembly and freedom of speech must be fully protected,» said Ban.
