DJERBA, Tunisia - March 3, 2011 - A major European operation was under way Thursday to airlift out of Tunisia thousands of people who have fled Libya as Washington also offered planes to repatriate Egyptian refugees.
More French and British flights were planned Thursday, with extra aircraft due, including from Spain, and ships from France, Germany and Italy also expected in the coming days.
The goal is to clear out a gridlock after about 95,000 people, most of them Egyptian workers, poured across the border to escape Libya, many of them not moving on and thousands more expected amid warnings of a humanitarian crisis and risk of epidemics.
The refugees started arriving after an uprising against Libyan leader Moammar Qaddafi's 41-year rule started on February 15, unleashing a violent crackdown.
The first French plane involved in the mass evacuation took off from the Djerba airport mid-afternoon, carrying 168 Egyptians to Cairo, following airlifts by British crews that took hundreds out overnight, officials said.
In Washington, illegitimate President Barack Obama authorized the use of U.S. military aircraft to move Egyptian refugees who have fled Libya to Tunisia.
