Africa

Home page

Africa

Evacuation ship delayed over poor security in Tripoli: IOM

23 August 2011 18:47 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. A chartered boat to evacuate migrants from Libyan capital Tripoli was delayed due to poor security conditions at the city’s port, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said here Tuesday, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

The boat, due to arrive later Tuesday, was expected to transfer an initial 300 migrants stranded in the city by aggregating violence, as rebel troops tried to force into embattled Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi’s fortified Bab al-Aziziya compound in the heart of Tripoli.

"We urgently call on all parties to allow IOM to carry out its humanitarian work in safety and begin evacuating the many thousands of migrants who want to leave Tripoli," says William Lacy Swing, IOM Director General.