Serbia, Croatia Prepare Evacuation as Libya Unrest Continues

All 27 Croats working with the Croatian oil drilling company Crosco in southern Libya have requested evacuation to Tripoli, workers told Hina news agency on Monday.

The Croatians work as contractors for the Italian oil company ENI at an oil and gas well in southern Libya, about 2,000 kilometres from Tripoli. Four days ago the workers asked ENI to be evacuated.

Meanwhile, the Croatian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has set up a crisis management centre for the evacuation of Croatian citizens from Libya and is seeking the safest way of evacuating all those who want to leave the country, Ministry spokesman Mario Dragun told press. He added that the Ministry was in contact with Crosco.

About 400 Croatians are estimated to be working in Libya.

Anti-government protests have been ongoing in Libya for several days now, inspired by popular revolts in neighbouring Tunisia and Egypt. Libyan government forces have responded with significant use of force, killing over 200 people and injuring hundreds more, according to the international rights organisation Human Rights Watch. The clashes have been the fiercest in Benghazi, the country's second largest city.

According to Dragun, on Sunday the workers at the Montmontaza construction company- 11 Croatians- requested evacuation from Libya. The airport at Benghazi is closed, and Croatia has an airplane ready to evacuate the workers who are en route to Tripoli in the course of the day.

The Croatian workers said that the situation in their area was calm, but expressed fear that the nearest airport at Kufra, near the border with Chad, might be closed if anti-government protests continued to spread across the country. They said they had food to last them for at least a week.

Senker said that Croatian Embassy officials were in close contact with Croatian companies employing most of the Croatian workers in Libya, namely Crosco, Geofizika and Viadukt.

Meanwhile, Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic said in Belgrade on Monday that his Ministry is working to organise the evacuation of Serbians from Libya, after a group of Serbian workers was attacked some 200 kilometres from Tripoli.

Jeremic said that while evacuation is the absolute priority, it has been difficult to organise as the Libyan government has cut off telephone and internet lines in many parts of the country.

The minister said that the embassy and the Ministry are trying to determine the number of Serbians in Libya in order to obtain exit visas and permits for a special plane to land.

Thus far between 600 and 700 Serbian citizens have contacted the embassy in Libya, but it is estimated that the actual number is higher.