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Greece Evacuates Embassy Staff From Libya

DOW JONES & COMPANY, INC. 8:51 AM ET 08/01/14

Symbol Last Price Change
TOT 64.5down 0 (0%)
E 50.8down 0 (0%)
REPYF 25.09down 0 (0%)
QUOTES AS OF 04:07:51 PM ET 07/31/2014

ATHENS-Greece evacuated its embassy staff and more than 100 other European and Chinese nationals from Libya, the defense ministry said Friday, amid deteriorating security conditions in the country.

In a statement, the ministry said that the Greek navy frigate Salamis completed the evacuation from the harbor of Tripoli--Libya's capital--in the early hours of Friday, supported by a helicopter and a navy special forces team.

The evacuation comes after weeks of fighting between rival Libyan militias for control of Tripoli's airport, and as a coalition of Islamic militias said they had taken control of the eastern town of Benghazi, Libya's second-largest city. The violence, the worst since the fall of former leader Moammar Gadhafi in 2011, has left more than 100 people dead around the country.

Both Greece and Cyprus have announced the closure of their embassies in Tripoli, along with several other countries, while the governments of the U.S., U.K., France and Germany have asked their citizens to leave Libya. Expatriates working for various foreign oil companies, including France'sTotal SA(TOT), Italy'sEni SpA(E) and Spain'sRepsol SA(REPYF) have also mostly left the country since the fighting erupted. Earlier this week, both Spain and France dispatched military missions to evacuate their nationals from Libya.

The Greek defense ministry statement said a total of 186 civilians were brought onboard the Salamis overnight. The evacuees included 77 Greeks, 12 Cypriots, 78 Chinese, 10 U.K. nationals, seven Belgians as well as one Russian and one Albanian citizen.

The frigate is expected to arrive in Piraeus, the port of Athens, on Saturday morning.

Write to Alkman Granitsas at [e-mail]

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
08-01-140851ET