The United States said it had been unable to move any of its nonessential U.S. diplomats and embassy family members out of Libya on Tuesday, February 22, and expected them to depart in coming days.
Witnesses streaming out of Libya into Egypt said Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi used tanks, warplanes and mercenaries to try to crush protests against his 41-year rule.
U.S. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said the United States had "approximately 35 employees and their families affected" by a U.S. decision on Monday to order nonessential diplomats and embassy family members to leave.
Crowley told reporters that the United States was looking at a variety of ways to move U.S. citizens out of the country and did not explain in detail why it had not been able to do so on Tuesday.
He said that for the time being the United States was trying to put U.S. citizens on regular commercial flights out of the country and that it had charter flights on standby to go to Libya if that was necessary.
