Two Special Air India flights to Tripoli will operate from Saturday over the next 10 days and two Naval warships including amphibious vessel INS Jalashwa will also set sail to bring back thousands of Indian nationals stranded in strife-torn Libya.

Evacuation through sea will begin from Sunday with one of the chartered ships,’Scotia Prince’, with a capacity to accomodate 1,200 persons set to reach Benghazi port in Libya. An estimated 18,000 Indian nationals live in Libya.

With Libyan government granting landing permission for two Air India planes daily from Saturday till 7th March, one aircraft each from Delhi and Mumbai will be deployed to ferry Indian nationals from Libya which is witnessing violent anti-government protests that has so far claimed several hundred lives.

Government is also dispatching on Saturday two naval warships including INS Jalashwa with a capacity to carry over a 1,000 passengers to evacuate its citizens.

The External Affairs Ministry also made it clear on Friday that “NO payment or charge” of any kind is being levied by the government for the evacuation or assisted departure of any Indian national from Libya.

“Libyan government has given landing clearance for two Air India planes per day from tomorrow for evacuation of Indian nationals,” External Affairs Minister S M Krishna said, adding, India has also requested the Libyan authorities to extend, if required, the time period for landing clearance.

The two Air India flights –one from Delhi with a 280-290 passenger capacity and from Mumbai with about 350 passenger capacity– will return by late Saturday night to their respective destinations, sources said.

Meanwhile, reacting to reports that some unscrupulous elements are asking for payments/handling charges/facilitation fee etc., for arranging evacuation of Indian nationals, through the Embassy of India in Libya, MEA issued a statement saying “These activities are completely illegal and individuals engaged in them should be immediately reported to the law enforcement authorities.”

Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao had a meeting with senior officials and reviewed the developing situation in Libya and the efforts underway to facilitate the evacuation of Indian nationals.

An External Affairs Ministry statement while giving details of evacuation plans by sea and land said around 150 Indian nationals from Tobruk in Libya are likely to travel by road to Salloum which is near the border with Egypt. They are likely to cross over in two batches on Saturday and Monday.

At Salloum, they would be met by Indian embassy personnel from Cairo, who are already in position.

The Egyptian government has graciously agreed to facilitate visas on arrival at the border, the statement said.

Arrangements are being made for their travel onwards by road to Cairo and next by air to India.

An Indian Air Force IL 76 aircraft is also on standby to meet additional transportation requirements wherever needed.

2 warships to be sent Saturday to Libya to bring back Indians

India will Saturday despatch two naval warships including its largest amphibious vessel INS Jalashwa to evacuate its citizens stranded in trouble-torn Libya.

“We are sending INS Jalashwa along with INS Mysore from Mumbai to Libya to bring back Indians stuck there,” Navy officials said in New Delhi.

The two ships will take at least eight to ten days to reach Alexandria in Egypt and from there launch to one of the ports in Libya which has not yet been decided, they added.

The Defence Ministry had received a request from the External Affairs Ministry to see if it could help in bringing back Indian citizens from there.

The Jalshwa is the largest available ship with the Indian Navy, which can be used for carrying out humanitarian efforts of this kind.

The over 27,000 tonnes ship can carry more than 1000 passengers and has adeauate medical facilities.

The warship is deployed in Vishakapattanam under the Eastern naval Command but was deployed in Mumbai on the western seaboard for taking part in the TROPEX exercises.

The MEA has already hired a ship Scotia Prince which can ferry 1,200 passengers. The ship is already in Egypt and readying for sail to Benghazi which will be the initial focus of the evacuation operations,” the MEA said.

There are about 18,000 Indians in that country with majority of them living in Tripoli which is one of the worst-affected cities due to the protests.

Indian companies, many of which are based in Libya for decades, have also offered to work with the Indian Embassy in Tripoli in facilitating evacuation.