Thousands have been evacuated from Libya

VALLETTA, Feb 26 (agencies): A British warship and a Chinese-chartered ferry arrived in Malta Saturday loaded with thousands of evacuees from Libya in an exodus of foreign nationals fleeing the oil-rich North African state. The HMS Cumberland frigate had left the rebel-held port of Benghazi in eastern Libya Thursday carrying 207 passengers but was forced to travel at a reduced speed because of the rough weather in the Mediterranean. The vessel carried citizens from 20 countries-part of a vast multinational workforce including oil executives, builders and domestic workers who are escaping by air, land and sea amid fears of a full-blown civil war. A ferry that docked in Malta Saturday carried 2,216 Chinese nationals also from Benghazi, who will remain on board until planes come to pick them up. Nearly 3,000 Chinese also landed on the Greek island of Crete Saturday as part of a major evacuation plan for China's 33,000-strong workforce in Libya, who were mainly working in the oil, rail and telecom sectors. China's foreign ministry said 16,000 Chinese have been evacuated so far. Richard Weeks, 64, a British manager who arrived on the HMS Cumberland, said he had been working on a water project in Libya and was robbed by looters. In London, British Foreign Secretary William Hague said "a lot of work" was underway on plans to extract up to 170 British oil workers stranded in remote desert locations. A plane also set off from London for Libya on Saturday in what was expected to be the last charter flight to bring back what Hague said where the "very few British nationals remaining in Tripoli." Some 500 people from 25 countries have also boarded two Turkish army vessels in Libya, together with about 1,200 Turks, officials in Ankara said. India said two specially-chartered planes had left for Tripoli to begin the evacuation of some 18,000 Indians living in the strife-torn country. Meanwhile a group of dozens of Filipinos out of an estimated 26,000 in Libya including domestic helpers and white-collar workers arrived in Manila. A US-chartered ferry carrying hundreds of people from Tripoli including American diplomats docked in Malta Friday after braving 20-foot (six-metre) waves, with at least two evacuees taken away on stretchers by paramedics. The US State Department has stepped up rescue operations for US nationals as it increases the pressure on Moamer Kadhafi, with sanctions unveiled by Washington on Friday against the Libyan leader and four of his sons. A second privately-chartered ferry from Libya with hundreds of evacuees on board also arrived in Malta Friday, along with two German warships set to take away German citizens airlifted out of Libya earlier this week. Tens of thousands of Egyptian migrant workers also continued streaming across Libya's western land border with Tunisia. The Red Crescent humanitarian organisation has warned it can no longer house them and has run out of mattresses and blankets. The International Organisation of Migration in Geneva says tens of thousands have fled across the border into Tunisia and is appealing for millions of dollars (euros) in international aid to help cope with the emergency. Hundreds of foreigners including Egyptians, Iraqis and Syrians have also been fleeing from Libya into Algeria through the Sahara Desert. On Friday, the NATO military alliance has offered to help evacuation efforts and the European Union said 3,600 EU nationals remained stranded in Libya. Italy, Libya's former colonial ruler, has already evacuated hundreds of its citizens and a military ship that loaded 245 evacuees in the Libyan port of Misrata was expected to arrive in Sicily later on Saturday. Several other countries with major migrant populations in Libya including Nigeria, South Korea and Syria have also announced large-scale evacuation plans this week involving ferries and planes. Meanwhile: Some 500 people from 25 countries boarded two Turkish army vessels, together with about 1,200 Turks, that sailed from Libya Saturday as part of a large-scale Turkish evacuation operation, officials said. The biggest group of foreigners -- 208 people-were Vietnamese, the foreign ministry said, adding that nationals of Bosnia, Macedonia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Poland, Syria, Tunisia, Jordan and the United States were among the passengers. The two vessels-a navy ferry and a frigate, which was originally on an escort mission but also took passengers-sailed from the flashpoint city of Benghazi Saturday morning en route to Marmaris, on Turkey's Mediterranean coast. Ankara said earlier this week that about 20 countries had requested Turkish help to repatriate nationals caught in the bloody unrest sweeping Libya. Turkey has brought home about 11,000 Turks since February 19, sending dozens of planes, including military cargo aircraft, and several ferries. It has also transported nationals to neighbouring Tunisia and Egypt by road and then flown them home. A total of 25,000 Turks were based in Libya prior to the eruption of deadly unrest last week, mostly employees of Turkish construction companies active in the North African country.