All Sri Lankan workers return from Libya

Colombo: All Sri Lankans who have been employed in Libya have returned to the country and the Sri Lankan embassy in Tripoli has been closed, the External Affairs Ministry said today.

Director General of Public Relations and Communications of the External Affairs Ministry Sarath Dissanayake told national news agency Lankapuvath that the last batch of Sri Lankans were flown on a charter flight to Colombo after the closure of the Sri Lankan Embassy in Libya.

Sri Lanka made preparations with the International Organisation on Migration (IOM) to evacuate around 1,200 Sri Lankans in Libya when the troubles started to brew.

The government later chartered flights to evacuate the Sri Lankan workers stranded in the beleaguered country.

The rebels fighting Muammar Gaddafi’s regime in Libya have entered the capital Tripoli and surrounded his fortified Bab al-Aziziya compound.

Media reports said the rebels were trying to break into the compound where Gaddafi’s son is held up.

(www.colombopage.com)