Consular team arrive in Libya to evacuate Irish citizens

AN emergency team of Irish consular staff is expected to arrive in Tripoli this morning to help evacuate all remaining Irish nationals wishing to leave Libya amid widespread violence and bloodshed in the North African country.

Six members of an emergency civil assistance team, who have obtained visas to enter Libya, will base themselves at the airport in Tripoli until all trapped Irish citizens are safely airlifted as the uprising against Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi verges on the brink of outright civil war.

The establishment of the emergency team was organised after an Aer Corps aircraft which landed at Tripoli airport on Wednesday evening was forced to return to its temporary base in the Maltese capital, Valletta, without any passengers.