Cairo sends ships to Tunisia to pick up Egyptians refugees from Libya.

TUNIS, February 26 (Itar-Tass) -- More than 5,000 refugees have
crossed the Libyan-Tunisian border over the past day in the village of Ras
Jdir. According to the available information, 4,200 of them are Egyptians.
Cairo has already sent two ships to pick them up.
On Friday, the local office of the International Red Cross appealed to
the Egyptian authorities to take action to evacuate its citizens, as
difficulties emerged with their accommodation and provision of essentials.
About 350 people are in a Tunisian camp the military created in the border
area, and some others have been accommodated at municipal offices in the
nearest town, Ben Ghardan. There is not enough room for all, though.
Since February 20 about 30 thousand people have escaped from the
bloody unrest in Libya to Tunisia through Ras Jdir, located 175 kilometers
away from the Libyan capital Tripoli. Among them there are many Egyptians
and Libyans. There are also Turks, Chinese and natives of West Africa. The
situation in the border areas is tense due to the massive influx of
refugees. The office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees this weekend
will bring tents and other necessary equipment to Ras Jdir for 10 thousand
people.

.EU ban on arms sales to Libya due next week - source.

BRUSSELS, February 26 (Itar-Tass) -- EU sanctions against Libya may
come into force as early as next week, a senior European source told
Itar-Tass on Friday evening.
The first block of the EU sanctions will include an embargo on selling
to Libya arms and police equipment and a ban on travels to Europe for
Muammar Gaddafi and his relatives and entourage, as well as a freeze on
their bank accounts.
The decision on sanctions has been taken and they may come into force
in early March. Now a list is to be finalized (of persons to whom the
sanctions will apply), the source said.
According to Itar-Tass, a number of European countries have already
started consultations on launching an international investigation into the
bloody events in Libya with the aim to put Gaddafi on trial as a war
criminal.
The resolution in favor of sanctions towards Libya may be approved by
the UN Security Council members as early as next Saturday, the permanent
representative of Brazil at the United Nations Maria Luiza Ribeiro Viotti,
told reporters after a meeting of the UN Security Council. It is possible
that a decision can be reached on Saturday, said Viotti.
As it became known to journalists from reliable sources on Friday, the
draft resolution contained a proposal for an arms embargo against Libya,
as well as a freeze on the assets of senior representatives of that
country and bans on their trips abroad.
In addition, the draft document states that attacks against innocent
Libyans can be regarded as "crimes against humanity." In this case, they
may be considered by the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
The theme of Libya was discussed in Hungary on Friday at the informal
meeting of the EU defense ministers, which was attended by NATO
Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen. The same problem was on the
agenda of an emergency meeting of the North Atlantic Council at the
ambassadorial level in Brussels. The main outcome of these meetings was
the achievement of mutual understanding on concerted action to evacuate
the 3,500 Europeans still remaining in Libya. According to sources, both
meetings considered the key issue of blockading part of Libyan air space
by the air forces of the EU and NATO and closing it to flights by Libyan
military aircraft in order to "ensure safe evacuation."
So far there have been no official comments on the outcome of this
debate. European diplomats have been saying that such a measure may be
taken "only when there is a relevant UN Security Council mandate."
NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said that talking about
this was premature, but he declared that the alliance would be very
closely monitoring the situation in Libya and remain ready for any
eventuality.

-0-str