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Turkey to help Pakistan on evacuation from Libya

Turkey and Pakistan have allied on the goal of rescuing the thousands of Pakistani expatriates which are stranded in Libya.

According to official sources the Pakistan has declared its embassy in Ankara as a local centre to rescue Pakistani people with the use of the services of the Turkish shipping lines. This variant of the rescuing operations has risen after a meeting of President Zardari and his Turkish counterpart during a recent visit to Kuwait. The Pakistanis who are wishing to leave Libya will be transported by ships to Turkey and from there they will be transported to Pakistan via air ways. The reason for this is the suspension of the the Libyan air services due to the crisis in the African country.

In the mean time, President Asif-Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani have directed the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar and Foreign Sectratary Salman Banshir to ensure the safety of the Pakistani people who are to be transported out of Libya. According to Foreign Office Spokesperson Tehmina Janjua since the implementation of this extradition method, the ministry of foreign affairs has set up a Special Task Force which constantly follows the situation in Libya.

At the moment the evacuation of Pakistanis by air, sea or land is being performed for all who wish to leave Libya. According to her, a group of Pakistanis have already reached Tunisia and are scheduled to be evacuated to Pakistan via the Pakistani embassy in Tunis.