New Delhi, March 2
Even as the escalating violence brings Libya closer to civil war, India is finding it difficult to evacuate its nationals — over 10,000 — stranded in the interiors of the Arab nation.

Getting its acts together, India has organised a series of emergency flights to evacuate its nationals from Libya as part of the massive evacuation plan, called 'Operation Safe Homecoming'. A ferry has been sent to the Libyan port city of Benghazi, and three warships are also on their way to the Mediterranean.

The Ministry of External Affairs on Wednesday said the pace work to rescue Indians stranded in Libya has gathered momentum over the past 24 hours.

Three special Air India flights — two Boeing 747s and one Airbus-330 — went to Tripoli yesterday and brought back 1,045 Indian nationals to New Delhi on Wednesday morning. Another three flights have left for Tripoli and are expected to ferry back 1,002 passengers.

Three daily flights shall continue to Tripoli over the coming days and may even be stepped up further. MV Scotia Prince sailed out of Benghazi (Libya) with 1,188 persons on board yesterday. It is likely to reach Alexandria (Egypt) around 2000 hrs (2330 hrs IST) on Wednesday. Four special flights will bring them to India tomorrow. By the end of the day today, 6,177 of the nearly 18,000 Indian nationals would have been pulled out of Libya, the MEA claimed.

Meanwhile, the rescue effort so far seems to have fallen well short of expectations, given the fact that other major countries have already evacuated a majority of their nationals from the strife-torn nation.

Though officials deny, India was apparently late in responding to the crisis in Libya even as the unrest against the Muammar Gaddafi regime was spreading far and wide in the North African nation. The result is that anxious relatives of those still trapped in Libya wait endlessly for their return while those who have managed to return home are thanking their stars. After repeated SoS from those trapped in the interiors of the Arab nation, India has sought permission from Libyan authorities to fly its aircraft to the southwestern city of Sabah to evacuate Indians.

Those stranded there are in no position to reach Tripoli or the port city of Benghazi, since travelling by road is not safe and there is no railway network in the Arab nation.

External Affairs Minister SM Krishna spoke to Libyan Foreign Minister Mussa Kussa last evening and requested him for more support to evacuate Indians, mostly working in the construction sector and oilfields. Indian Ambassador to Libya Mani Mecklai has also approached the Libyan authorities in this regard.

Around 1,000 persons, including Indian doctors and their families, are said to be residing in Sabah, located around 1,200 km from Libyan capital Tripoli, and had requested the Indian government to make arrangements for their evacuation from the airport in central Libya.

The Indian Air Force's heavy lift transport plane, the Soviet-origin IL-76, has been pressed into service to evacuate Indians stranded in Libya. A plane will fly out on Thursday from the Palam military airbase in Delhi, IAF spokesperson Wing Commander TK Singha said. An IL-76 can fly up to 300 passengers.