NPR Notes 'U.S. Struggles to Evacuate Libya, Others Don't'
By Ken Shepherd | February 24, 2011 | 21:08
Earlier today I noted that mainstream media have not been critical of the Obama administration's poor efforts at evacuating American nationals from Libya.
Oddly enough it appears the taxpayer-subsidized NPR has.
From Bill Chappell's Feb. 24 blog post, "U.S. Struggles to Evacuate Libya; Others Don't":
U.S. efforts to evacuate hundreds of Americans from Libya are being stymied by bad weather on the coast — and by the refusal of Moammar Gadhafi's government to allow American charter planes to land there.
Some 285 people have been sitting on the Maria Dolores, a chartered ferry, since Wednesday, as the ship's crew waits for the stormy seas to calm, according to State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley says.
The ship isn't likely to leave port until Friday, according to reports.
In a Newscast spot, Michele Kelemen reports that 40 of the ferry's passengers are U.S. embassy personnel and their families, 127 of the passengers are private U.S. citizens, and the rest are from other countries. And some of the American passengers are identified as security personnel.
The weather did not stop China from using two large ferries to take 4,500 Chinese workers to safety on the island of Crete, the AP reports. And aircraft from France and Britain have been able to get citizens from those two countries out of harm's way.
Read more: newsbusters.org
First Russian evacuation plane arrives from Libya
The first evacuation plane with Russian citizens onboard arrived at Moscow's Domodedovo Airport from riot-torn Libya on Wednesday, the Russian Emergencies Ministry said.
"The plane landed at 10.29 a.m. Moscow time; there were 118 Russian citizens onboard, including 6 children," a spokesman for the Emergencies Ministry said.
....
en.rian.ru
Libya unrest: British evacuation plans
bbc.co.uk
China sends 2nd chartered plane to evacuate nationals from Libya
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Besides the chartered planes, four ocean liners, hired by Chinese embassies in Greece and Malta, were on their way to the waters near Libya, and the Chinese Embassy in Egypt also had hired about 100 buses to evacuate Chinese nationals from the country, the ministry said.
Greek Minister of Maritime Affairs, Islands and Fisheries Ioannis Diamantidis promised to provide assistance to China's evacuation of nationals from Libya.
During a meeting Wednesday with Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Dejiang, also head of an emergency headquarter to organize the evacuation, Diamantidis said the Greek government had ordered its local governments to do their best to cooperate with the Chinese side.
He said the island of Crete, a transfer place for the nationals evacuated from Libya's Benghazi, had the capability to provide accommodation for Chinese nationals.
Zhang extended the Chinese government's gratitude for Greece's assistance.
Seven ships had departed from Greece for Libya to help in the evacuation, according to the Greek minister, saying it would take 10 hours for the ships to reach the Crete from Libya's Benghazi.
The majority of Chinese nationals in Libya are employees of Chinese companies with operations in the country.
Early Wednesday, 83 Chinese nationals, working as business staff and construction workers of the China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC), were evacuated from Libya to Egypt.
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