Tuesday 1 March 2011

'Refugee crisis' on Libyan border

The predicament on Libya's border with Tunisia has arrived at crisis stage, as tens of thousands of foreigners flee unrest inside the country, the UN says.

Help employees appear unable to cope with the influx, say correspondents. Some 140,000 have gone to Tunisia and Egypt.

Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has advised Western journalists he's loved by his men and women and denied protests in Tripoli.

His interview came amid reviews that he's trying to regain manage of rebel locations in western Libya.

Col Gaddafi is facing a enormous challenge to his 41-year rule, with protesters in manage of towns inside the east.

Witnesses stated pro-Gaddafi forces attempted to retake the western cities of Zawiya, Misrata and Nalut on Monday but have been repulsed by rebels assisted by defecting army units.

The rebels stated they had killed eight pro-Gaddafi militia, but there have been no opposition fatalities. There has been no phrase from your govt on casualties.

There are fears in Zawiya that the metropolis may be attacked from your air, but the rebels remained defiant.

"We're not
here for energy, authority or funds," they stated inside a concept aimed at Col Gaddafi.

"We are here for the cause of freedom along with the price we're willing to shell out is with our very own blood... It is victory or demise."

In other developments:

* The Red Cross is requesting use of western Libya, amid unconfirmed reviews of attacks on physicians and summary killings of patients
* Austria freezes assets of your Libyan leadership really worth one.2bn euros ($1.65bn; £1.02bn) as Germany freezes the financial institution account of a single of Col Gaddafi's sons
* Libyan air power planes reportedly attacked ammunition depots inside the eastern towns of Ajdabiya and Rajma
* About 400 protesters gathered inside the Tripoli suburb of Tajoura on Monday - Gaddafi supporters attempted to disperse them by firing inside the air
* Studies say there happen to be long queues in Tripoli banking institutions as men and women attempted to collect the 500 dinars (£250; $410) promised by the govt in an attempt to quell the unrest

'Forgotten'

A spokeswoman for the UN Higher Commissioner for Refugees, Melissa Fleming, stated 70,000-75,000 men and women have fled to Tunisia because violence began in Libya on 20 February. A comparable number have gone to Egypt, exactly where most happen to be capable to continue their journeys onward.

"Our employees around the Libya-Tunisia border have advised us this early morning that the predicament there is reaching crisis stage," she stated, quoted by AFP information agency.

About two,000 men and women are crossing into Tunisia each hour but as soon as in Tunisia several of them have nowhere to go. An additional 20,000 are stated to be backed up around the Libyan aspect.

Most are Egyptian, but you will find also considerable numbers of Chinese and Bangladeshis.

The Egyptians are angry, complaining that they've been forgotten by their govt, says the BBC's Jim Muir around the border.

Temperatures plummeted overnight and our correspondent found the body of a youthful Egyptian gentleman who had apparently died of chilly.

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