Thousands of foreigners were left stranded in Libya, where mass protests escalated into the worst scenes seen so far in the "domino revolutions" that swept across the Arab world. The violence has already claimed the lives of over 200 people.
An Austrian army transport plane, which was to evacuate about 60 EU citizens from Libya, became stranded in the airport as "the entire airspace is blocked," an Austrian defence ministry official told DPA yesterday.
In Brussels, UK Foreign Secretary William Hague called on the Libyan authorities to guarantee the protection of foreign nationals, including 3,500 Britons, and assistance for those trying to leave the country.
Leaving Libya is not an easy task, as the regime is imposing "exit visas" on foreigners and can refuse to grant them with no explanation, said Laurent Wauquiez, French secretary of state for European affairs.
Diplomats seem to be worried that Gaddafi might be tempted to treat foreigners as hostages. In the recent past, the Libyan dictator held four Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor in an HIV trial. Their ordeal lasted from 1998 to 2007, when they were freed following strong EU pressure.
From 2008 to 2009 Gadaffi was engaged in an escalating war of words with Switzerland. Following the arrest by Swiss police of Gadaffi's son Hannibal and his wife for assaulting their housekeeping staff, the Libyan regime effectively held hostage for over a year a few Swiss entrepreneurs who were visiting Libya on business.
Mohamed Bakari, an Arab journalist working in Bulgaria, told Focus news agency that "foreigners in Libya are hostages". He said that the most important task for the Western community would be to make sure that foreigners are evacuated from the country.
In the recent past, Gaddafi has willingly played the role of mediator in a number of hostage-taking cases across Africa and Asia. According to analysts, he comes from a tribe with a strong hostage-taking mentality.
The Libyan leader has also used blackmail on a number of occasions. Recently, he asked the EU to pay him €5 billion in order to prevent Europe "turning black" with waves of African immigrants sailing from Libya's coast.
French Secretary of State for EU Affairs Wauquiez told journalists in Brussels that "the top priority is safety" for those trying to leave the country.
"There cannot be and there should not be any state blackmail," Wauquiez warned, without specifying what he was referring to.
Illegal migration
In Brussels, EU foreign ministers spoke of the risk posed by immigration waves from Libya should the situation continue to deteriorate.
Tens of thousands of illegal migrants try to make the journey from the northern coasts of Tunisia and Libya to islands off Italy every year, with hundreds having to be rescued by Italy's coastguard and housed in migration centres.
Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said EU states were likely to ask the European Parliament to back a medium-to-long term strategy to support infrastructure development, investment and the private sector in the region after it had already approved a one billion euro boost in development funding.
Frattini said Europeans were concerned about the threat of much greater illegal migration as a result of the Libyan unrest, which Italy is already facing from Tunisia.
While calling for a "Marshall Plan" to assist North Africa and the Middle East, Frattini, whose prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, has close ties to Gaddafi, said Europe should not give the impression of trying to "export our democracy".
"We have to help, we have to support peaceful reconciliation," he said.
