Libya: British forces rescue 150 civilians from desert

Libya: British forces rescue 150 civilians from desert

One hundred and fifty civilians have been rescued by British forces from the Libyan desert south of Benghazi.

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By Alastair Jamieson 6:30PM GMT 26 Feb 2011

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Two RAF Hercules aircraft were involved in the operation, which involved the SAS and forces from Special Boat Service.

Both planes have landed in Malta, the Ministry of Defence confirmed, while HMS Cumberland is on her way back to Benghazi to evacuate anyone else left in the chaos-stricken country.

Britain has also evacuated its diplomatic staff and suspended the operations of the British embassy in Tripoli.

Workers departed on the last Government-chartered flight, which took off for Gatwick carrying 53 British nationals on Saturday afternoon.

Liam Fox, the defence secretary, said: "I can confirm that two RAF C130 Hercules aircraft have evacuated around 150 civilians from desert locations south of Benghazi.

"HMS Cumberland is on her way back to Benghazi to evacuate any remaining entitled persons from there.

"HMS York has arrived in Valletta to take on board stores so it can assist the evacuation effort if required. And a number of other military assets remain available to support the FCO led efforts to return civilians from Libya"

The desert rescue was reported to be extremely complex and relied on information about the likely response from Libya's air defence systems.

A Foreign Office spokeswoman said the Hercules planes were being met by a team of consular officials and Red Cross staff in Valletta, Malta.

"Once disembarked, the passengers will be given food and water and offered full consular assistance at the airport. This includes immigration processing and a medical.

"They will then be bussed to hotels, where they will stay overnight. They will return to the UK on Sunday or Monday on an FCO-chartered plane."

The departures came as Libyans prepared themselves for battles after Colonel Gaddafi said he was ready to arm civilian supporters.

Almost the entire east of the oil-rich North African nation has slipped from Gaddafi's control since the popular uprising began in the port city of Benghazi on February 15, inspired by revolutions in neighbouring Egypt and Tunisia.

Passengers who earlier flew into Gatwick from Malta spoke of the chaos gripping Libya.

Many spoke of the deteriorating safety on the streets of Tripoli, and marauding gangs ransacking and looting people of their possessions.

Construction industry worker Jong-Kuk Lee, a 56-year-old Korean who lives in Surbiton, Surrey, was greeted with hugs by his tearful wife Cecilia, 51, and daughter Joo Lee, 26.

He was attacked at knifepoint by thugs and robbed of possessions including his passport and mobile phone in his living quarters in the middle of the night.

His daughter said: "The worst night was on Monday night when it all started to kick off in Benghazi. As much as I love social media because you can keep in touch with what's going on, it also meant that I saw pictures of people shot.

"I'm glad that he's safe. I saw him in the background on the television news. He looked a bit dishevelled."

Mr Lee said: "I feel better now. I had everything stolen. They took everything from me. I didn't have my passport or mobile. It was terrible."

Paul Ellis, 51, from Milton Keynes, and his colleagues working on the Great Man-Made River Project in Libya were confronted by armed gangs.

Asked whether he was frightened at any point, he said: "Just a bit. The camp that we lived on was ransacked. Anything of any value - mobile phones, laptops - were taken.

"One of the guys had all his clothes taken as well. I was quite lucky that they didn't take mine.

"Gangs of young Libyans had knives and machetes. What they wanted was any valuables - money, laptops and mobiles. We just gave them those and the keys to cars and they just left us alone to some extent."

Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian prime minister, said Gaddafi 'no longer controls' the country.

"I have fresh news from a few minutes ago and it appears that, effectively, Gaddafi no longer controls the situation in Libya," Mr Berlusconi told a political meeting in Rome.

Mr Berlusconi, who has been relatively subdued in condemning the violence in Libya, said popular revolts in North Africa could bring democracy and freedom but also trigger the creation of "dangerous centres of Islamic fundamentalism a few kilometres from our shores" and a mass exodus of refugees.

"For this reason, Europe and the West cannot remain spectators of this process, and above all we can't do that," he said. "The events of the past few weeks affect our trade relations, our energy supplies and our own security."

David Cameron spoke to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Mr Berlusconi and Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan in the last 24 hours about Libya.

A spokesman for Mr Cameron said: "There was clear agreement that the actions of the Libyan regime were totally unacceptable and that brutality and intimidation would not be tolerated."

The escalating revolt against Gaddafi, which his deputy envoy to the United Nations said has killed thousands, emboldened tens of thousands of protesters across the Arab world to step up demands for historic reforms.

After protests in Tunisia and Egypt forced the resignations of longtime leaders Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and Hosni Mubarak, Libya's ruler of four decades appeared to dig in for a bitter fight to the end.

"We could still hear gunfire all night," one Tripoli resident said, saying that electricity had been cut overnight.

"We were terrified. We thought that meant they were preparing for attacks. We grabbed whatever we could use as weapons and stayed by the door in case anyone broke in."

In a rabble-rousing speech that presaged a bloody battle for the capital, Gaddafi told frenzied supporters in Tripoli's Green Square on Friday that the rebels would be defeated.

"We will fight them and we will beat them," he told a crowd of hundreds.

"Sing, dance and prepare yourselves," the 68-year-old leader said. "If needs be, we will open all the arsenals."
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