UN urges mass Libyan evacuation

LONDON. March 2. KAZINFORM The UN has called for a mass humanitarian evacuation of people fleeing Libya for Tunisia, saying the border situation is at "crisis point".

General Secretary Ban Ki-moon said thousands of lives were at stake. Some 75,000 people have fled to Tunisia since unrest began and 40,000 more are waiting to cross, the UN says.

The organisation has voted to suspend Libya from its Human Rights Council.

Beleaguered Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi has rejected calls to leave.

He has played down the unrest in the country and is trying to regain areas held by opponents of his rule in the west. The protesters have control of major towns in the east.

Mr Ban said reports had suggested about 1,000 people had so far died in the Libyan unrest, BBC News reports.

See www.bbc.co.uk for full version.