South Korea is expected to send a charter flight to Libya as early as Thursday to evacuate its nationals from escalating anti-government unrest, an official said Wednesday, as a growing number of Koreans sought to exit the turmoil-laden nation.
Anti-government protesters in Libya. (AP-Yonhap)
The government has been negotiating with Egypt Airlines to charter a flight to bring South Koreans out of Libya and the two sides are close to a deal, a foreign ministry official said. If the deal is done, an Egypt Airlines flight will be sent to Tripoli to take South Koreans back to Cairo as early as Thursday, he said.
Currently, about 1,400 South Koreans are believed to be staying in Libya -- about 1,050 of them in and around Tripoli and some 340 others in and around the eastern port city of Benghazi.
A charter flight will be used to evacuate those near Tripoli, and the government is advising those near Benghazi to move to nearby Egypt by land because it is too risky to travel from Benghazi to Tripoli. Tripoli is surrounded by anti-government protesters while Benghazi has already fallen into the hands of
protesters, officials said.
Egypt has set up a border camp and is accepting people crossing from Libya, officials said.
Hundreds of South Koreans now hope to exit Libya and the number is expected to rise, the official said. The Egypt Airlines charter flight will be an Airbus 330 that can carry up to 260 passengers, he said. An additional flight will be sent if needed, he said.
The official said that 45 South Korean and some 1,600 Bangladesh workers at a construction site near Benghazi had told officials that they would leave for nearby Egypt by land after day breaks on Wednesday. However, the government has since lost contact with them, he said.
"The communication situation there is very bad. I believe they've reached" Egypt, he said.
The official added that the government is also considering other evacuation options, such as sending a ferry to the port city of Benghazi, and sending a Korean Airlines flight to Tripoli in case Egypt Airlines changes its mind and refuses to charter a flight.
South Korean ambassador to Libya Jo Dae-sik, who had been in Seoul for an annual conference of diplomatic mission chiefs, left for Libya on Tuesday to oversee safety measures. The envoy is expected to arrive later Wednesday in Tunisia, from which he plans to use an overland route to Libya.
Amid the turmoil, rioters attacked an additional four South Korean-run construction sites in Libya and vehicles were stolen from three of the four sites, though there were no casualties, another ministry official said.
The raids were the latest in a series of attacks on Korean-run construction sites in Libya amid fanning anti-government protests. The attacks fueled concern about the safety of South Koreans staying in the country, most of them construction firm workers.
The latest wave of raids on Korean construction sites began last Friday when hundreds of Libyans entered a site in Derna in eastern Libya and set fire to buildings. Officials said anti-government protests appear to have fueled the rioting, which is believed to have started over discontent with the government's
housing policy. (Yonhap News)
<관련기사>
정부, 리비아 교민 수송위해 24일 전세기 급파
260석 규모 이집트항공기 트리폴리로
정부는 반정부 시위가 확산되는 리비아에서 교민들을 철수시키기 위해 특별 전세기를 운항하기로 했다. 국토해양부는 외교통상부 등 관계부처와 비상대책회의를 거쳐 24일 이집트항공소속 여객기를 리비아 트리폴리 공항으로 급파해 현지 교민과 근로자들을 수송하기로 했다고 23일 밝혔다.
이집트 항공은 카이로~트리폴리를 운항하는 정기편으로 260석 규모라고 국토부는 설명했다.
국토부는 이날 오후 리비아 대사관 등에서 현지 교민들을 대상으로 수요를 조사한 결과 180명이 출국 의사를 밝혔으며 현재 추가 접수도 받고 있다고 전했다.
도태호 중동대책반장은 "트리폴리에는 현재 한국인 1천50명이 체류중이며 이 가운데 100여명이 근로자들의 가족"이라며 "이집트 항공에 확인한 결과 트리폴리로 하루 3편까지 운항이 가능해 수요가 있을 경우 전세기를 추가 투입할 수 있다"고 말했다.
국토부는 또 리비아 당국의 승인을 거쳐 대한항공을 통해 국적기 전세기를 띄우는 방안도 추진하기로 했다.
리비아의 경우 현재 우리 국적기가 운항되지 않고 있어 영공통과, 착륙허가 등을 받는데 약 2~3일 정도가 소요될 것으로 정부는 보고 있다.
국토부는 또 벵가지 공항이 폐쇄됨에 따라 동북부에 거주하는 우리 교민들은 육로 이동이 가능하도록 현지 공관을 통해 대형 버스를 임차해주는 방안을 찾고 있다고 설명했다. (연합뉴스)
