1,643 CHINESE NATIONALS EVACUATED FROM LIBYA

GRAND HARBOUR, Malta, Feb 27, 2011
The second cruiseship chartered by the Chinese Embassy in Malta to evacuate Chinese nationals from Libya docked at Malta's Grand Harbour in Valletta, early morning on Monday.

A diplomatic source from the Chinese embassy in Malta told Xinhua that the ship carried 1,643 Chinese nationals from the Libyan port city Misurata.

The Chinese ambassador to Malta, Zhang Keyuan, visited some of the evacuees.

The first cruise ship the Chinese embassy in Malta chartered for the evacuation operation arrived in Malta on Saturday with 2,235 Chinese nationals, who are mainly employees of two Chinese construction companies in Libya.

The third ship the embassy chartered is scheduled to reach Malta on Monday afternoon, with nearly 1,000 evacuated Chinese nationals.

A group of 48 Chinese students also arrived in Malta from Tripoli on Monday, with the help of the Chinese embassy in the Libyan capital city.

They said the situation in Tripoli was relatively calm in the week before they were ordered to evacuate on Saturday.

A total of 22 employees of Chinese IT company Huawei were also taken from Libya to Malta on a ship, with assistance offered by an organization which calls itself International SOS.