Rescue ship evacuates 1,000 from Libyan city

A CHARTERED ship evacuated nearly 1,000 foreign workers and wounded Libyans from Misrata as government artillery bombarded the besieged city that has come to symbolise the struggle against Muammar Gaddafi’s rule.

“We wanted to be able to take more people out but it was not possible,” said Jeremy Haslam, who led the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) rescue mission. “Although the exchange of fire subsided while we were boarding... we had a very limited time to get the migrants and Libyans on board the ship and then leave.”

A rebel spokesman said bombardments pounded Misrata for a fifth day after shelling killed 17 people and wounded about 100, mostly civilians, on Sunday.