Malaysians in Libya to be evacuated

The 190 Malaysians, including seven tertiary students, in Libya will be evacuated as the tense situation in Tripoli looks to be worsening.

Deputy Foreign Minister A. Kohilan Pillay said the riots had escalated and the Foreign Ministry felt there was cause to get the Malaysians out of the country for their safety.

“The situation has become critical. It was okay in the afternoon. Now, it’s a different story,” he said when contacted last night.

Kohilan said his ministry was working with the National Security Council to develop a plan with the Malaysian embassy in Tripoli.

“We will begin the process of evacuating them very soon,” he said last night.

He said the number of Malaysians involved were not as big as that in Cairo during the Ops Piramid exercise which involved 7,000 Malaysians.

“But we will work as fast as possible to get them out. We will have more details by tomorrow (today),” he said.

Human rights groups in Libya have estimated that nearly 300 have been killed following clashes between anti-government protesters and security forces.

The protests launched this month are aimed at unseating Libya’s strongman leader Muammar Gaddafi who has ruled the oil-rich north African nation for four decades.

Kohilan said most Malaysians were working in smaller towns in Libya at manufacturing plants, adding that some were construction workers or business owners.

Meanwhile, a Malaysian embassy spokesman in Tripoli said Ranhill Bhd had about 70 Malaysians working on a housing project in the country,MERGAWATI ZULFAKAR reports.

They were ready to be evacuated if the situation in Tripoli worsened, he said.

“As far as we are concerned, the workers are all okay. We are in touch with them and have told them to contact us if anything untoward happens,” the spokesman said. - Star