A private insurance company nixed a charter flight secured by Canada to ferry its citizens out of Libya Thursday, stranding 105 Canadians at the Tripoli airport, the foreign ministry said.
The move left Ottawa scrambling to find a “plan B” and by afternoon a military jumbo jet was put on standby to go in its place.
Due to the deteriorating security situation in Libya, a charter flight obtained to evacuate Canadians (from Tripoli) couldn’t obtain insurance, so we’re now looking to work with our partners on other options,” Lynn Meahan, spokeswoman for Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon, told AFP.
She said a Canadian military C-17 transport aircraft now in Germany was “put on standby” to go fetch the Canadians once landing rights were secured from Libya.
Earlier, Cannon spoke with his Italian counterpart, Franco Frattini, during a stopover in Rome and “they’ve indicated that they’re willing to assist us in securing landing rights for our military aircrafts (in Tripoli),” Meahan said.
Italy, which controlled Libya from 1911 to 1942, is also its top trade partner.
Cannon was accompanying Canada’s Governor General David Johnston on a visit to Kuwait.
He was scheduled to leave for Kuwait later in the day, but his office said he may stay in Rome to meet the first Canadian evacuees from Tripoli, expected to arrive as early as Thursday evening.
Meahan also pointed to Canada’s allies evacuating their citizens by ship, as a secondary option. As well, Ottawa has asked Canadian companies on the ground, including SNC-Lavalin, Suncor and Shell Canada, to “assist in the evacuation.”
One-hundred-and-five Canadians were checked in at the Tripoli airport earlier, awaiting a charter flight that never arrived.
Of the 353 Canadians registered at the Canadian embassy in Libya, 213 have requested help in leaving the North African country amid a deadly crackdown on anti-regime protesters.
Another charter flight was still scheduled to depart for Tripoli and pick up Canadians on Friday, said Meahan, but it is unclear if insurance woes would also ground that flight.
Ottawa, Feb 24, 2011 (AFP)
