February 27, 2011 2:06 PM

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Libya: India begins evacuation process; UN slaps sanction

Five hundred twenty eight Indians have been airlifted from Tripoli, capital of the strife torn Libya in the massive evacuation operation.These Indians reached New Delhi by two Air India flights till this morning. The evacuation started yesterday. Minister of State for External Affairs E. Ahmed and Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao received the passengers. Our correspondent reports that the government has made elaborate arrangements at the airport to help the passengers. Those who wanted to stay in National Capital have been provided with the lodging and boarding facilities and those who wanted to go to their home state have been provided facilities for the same. All the services have been provided for free. Apart from the officials of the Ministy of External Affairs, Resident Commissioners of 12 states were also present at the airport to help the passengers. AIR correspondent reports, three naval warships have also set sail for Malta yesterday. While INS Jalashwa and INS Mysore left from Mumbai, INS Aditya set sail from Karwar. In a related incident, another Indian casualty has been reported in the country. One Ashok Kumar passed away in Tobruk city. He was among the five Indians hurt in a road accident while fleeing the country. Several western countries have evacuated their embassy staff and other foreign nationals from Libya in secret military operations and temporarily closed their diplomatic missions there. Over 130 foreigners, among them dozens of Germans and EU nationals, were flown out of Libya by two German military aircraft in a daring operation in which armed soldiers were reportedly involved. The aircraft took off from a NATO base on the Greek island of Crete and after picking up the evacuees at a location in Southern Libya flew back to the base. German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle told reporters in Berlin that three warships dispatched by the country's government to evacuate German and EU nationals are on their way to Libya and they are expected to reach its northern coast in the coming days.The UN Security Council has discussed how to sanction the Libyan leader for his brutal suppression of pro-democracy protests in his country. Member nations will consider arms embargo, travel ban and asset freeze on Mumammar Gaddafi.India and 14 other members of the UNSC met to discuss a resolution containing possible actions against the Libyan leadership. The 15-nation body had its first round of consultations on the draft on Friday. The European Union has applauded the UN Security Council's unanimous vote to slap sanctions on Libya. The 27-nation EU has said, it is in talks with its global partners like the US for a full and immediate implementation of the tough measures against the Gaddafi regime. EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Catherine Ashton said, EU has already started to work on restrictive measures such as assets freeze, travel ban and arms embargo and preparations are already well underway. In a statement, she said, formal adoption will take place as soon as possible to ensure full and immediate implementation.

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