Pakistanis returning from Libya gradually: Tehmina

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Office Spokesperson Tehmina Janjua has said that many Pakistanis have arrived home while others are on way through different routes.

Talking to a private news channel, Tehmina Janjua said that they were trying to evacuate maximum number of Pakistanis from Benghazi city of Libya to Turksih port of Istanbul via sea because of distance between them.

"Our missions in the region have clear instructions from the Foreign Ministry to facilitate early and safe repatriation of expatriates to Pakistan," the Foreign Office spokesperson said.

A comprehensive plan has been chalked out to evacuate the Pakistanis from Libya, Tehmina Janjua said.  The Pakistanis reaching neighbouring countries of Turkey, Egypt, Algiers and Tunisia, will be brought to Pakistan through chartered flights, Janjua said.

Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir has directed Pakistan's Ambassador Athar Mahmood in Tunisia, Seema Naqvi in Egypt and Tariq Azizuddin in Turkey directing them to take care of Pakistanis who reach in their countries after fleeing Libya, she said.

Janjua said that the Pakistan government would pay the travelling expenses of the deserving Pakistanis.

The Spokesperson said the task-force set up at the Foreign Office for the evacuation of Pakistanis from Libya was working round the clock.

She said that the Foreign Secretary was in constant touch with the missions in Tripoli, Cairo, Algiers, Tunisia and Turkey.