Airlift planned for Canadians in Libya as violence flares

OTTAWA – Efforts are underway to whisk Canadians out of Libya, where antigovernment demonstrations turned deadly after Col. Moammar Gadhafi called in the military to gun down civilian protesters to preserve his 41-year dictatorship.

The Canadian government is negotiating landing rights and hopes the first plane will arrive in Tripoli on Thursday to bring Canadians to various destinations in Europe, similar to what was done in Egypt when violence there prompted an evacuation weeks ago.

"The situation in Libya is rapidly evolving and is highly unpredictable," Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon said Tuesday.

"Today I am announcing that the government of Canada is putting in place an evacuation plan for Canadian nationals who want to leave Libya."

Cannon said 331 Canadian citizens had registered with the embassy in Tripoli, and of those, 91 have indicated that they would like to leave Libya. The Department of Foreign Affairs is to follow up with the remaining expatriates to determine if they also want to leave.

Canada is also working with the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Australia and New Zealand "to provide seats for citizens who are anxious to leave on evacuation flights in the next few hours and days," he said.

The minister urged all Canadians in Libya to contact the Canadian embassy in Tripoli at 218-21-335-1633 or the emergency operations centre in Ottawa at 613-996-8885.

Hundreds of people have died in Benghazi and the Libyan capital of Tripoli since last week when demonstrations against Gadhafi were met with violence by his loyal armed forces.

When similar protests rocked the Egyptian capital of Cairo, the Canadian government evacuated Canadian citizens within a week.

Sheila Muirhead, of Calgary, has kept in sporadic contact by cellphone with her husband Michael, a geologist working in Benghazi who turned 45 on Tuesday. The situation for foreigners is deteriorating rapidly, and essential supplies such as water are already being rationed, she said.

The father of three children went to the North African country after a fruitless search for work in Canada and only after being assured he would be taken care by the Libyan company in the case of any unrest.

Instead, she said, when the situation in Benghazi turned violent last Friday, the foreign staff were left to fend for themselves after company officials and all Libyans disappeared.

Muirhead said foreign staff have been told both to stay in the lightly guarded compound and also to try to get to Tripoli, about 1,000 kilometres west of the city. The airport at Benghazi is in shambles and no flights are available, she added.

Iris and Gary Sutherland are anxiously waiting for their son, Glenn, to get out of Libya.

The couple told Global News that rebels attacked the Suncor-run rig he’s been working on for the last five weeks.

The 30-year-old phoned his parents Monday to say he and his crew had to flee to safety in the Sahara desert.

The Calgary-based energy company sent a letter to employees’ loved-ones late Monday to say its employees had made it safely to a nearby drill camp.

Winnipeg’s Barrie and Betty Atkinson told Global News that they too have been glued to the news because their daughter is living in Libya.

Elizabeth Atkinson, a 45-year-old geophysicist with Suncor, has been working in Tripoli since September with her partner Mike Perkins.

While communications have been cut off, her parents finally got the news that she’d been flown by her company out of Libya and that she and Perkins were safe in Malta.

Oil and gas companies Suncor Energy and Shell Canada, as well as engineering firm SNC Lavalin, have been responsible for taking care of the Canadians they employ in the country.

Canada has condemned the violence in Libya as well as Gadhafi’s vow to die "a martyr" in his homeland and to crush his opponents, who include diplomats and soldiers as well as civilians.

Cannon noted Libya’s ambassador to Canada is back home on sick leave but that his charge d’affaires had informed him that things were "business as usual."

While the Arab League suspended Libya from participating in the group Tuesday and the UN Security Council emerged from a private meeting condemning the violence and calling for those responsible to be held accountable, Canada has been criticized for its muted response to growing unrest in the Middle East and North Africa.

Cannon, however, said he has "initiated" a discussion with the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva about what sanctions might be imposed on Libya. Still, he maintained the immediate priority is to help Canadian citizens.

"I think the options in the coming days will better crystallize but for now the priority is to get Canadians out," he said.

In a statement, Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff not only condemned the violence but also the Gadhafi regime.

"For over 40 years, Moammar Gadhafi has ruled Libya without democratic institutions. The civil unrest we are watching unfold is the consequence of the Gadhafi regime’s failure to respond to the aspirations of the Libyan people," he said.

"Before more innocent civilians are needlessly killed, the Gadhafi regime must immediately and unreservedly cease its lethal tactics and listen to the will of the people."

Meanwhile, dozens of Libyans began gathering outside the Libyan Embassy in Ottawa Tuesday afternoon as part of a solidarity march to Parliament Hill that drew protesters from Montreal, Toronto and elsewhere in Canada.

"Our families back home are being shot at and killed in the streets," Basem Elbarouni said.

"This is the least we could do."

Elbarouni, who is in Canada on a temporary work and study visa, described Canada’s response to the unrest in his homeland as "very, very subdued."

"I would like to hear total condemnation and the withdrawal of all relationships from Tripoli until something is done," he said.

With files from Dina O’Meara, Calgary Herald, and Global News