Rescue mission planned by UN for 600,000 trapped in Tripoli

THE United Nations has said it will mount an operation, probably by sea, to evacuate the thousands of foreigners still trapped in Tripoli by rebel advances that have put Colonel Muammar al-Gaddafi's capital under siege.

Rebel advances west and south of Tripoli in recent days have cut the road links between the capital and the outside world and severed the supply lines of Col Gaddafi's forces.

A spokeswoman for the UN, Jemini Pandya, said an operation to evacuate thousands of Egyptians and other foreigners trapped in Tripoli by the latest fighting would begin within days.

"We are looking at all options available, but it will probably have to be by sea," she told a Geneva news conference.

More than 600,000 of an estimated 1.5m- 2.5m foreigners, most of whom are Asian and African migrant workers, have fled six months of fighting in Libya. However, many remain in Tripoli, which until this week was a safe two-hour drive from the Tunisian border.