Speaking at the presidential office here on Wednesday, Marty said evacuation of Indonesian citizens from conflict-torn Egypt recently was easier because the country`s government was at the time facilitating it.
But in Libya, Marty said, it would not be as easy as in Egypt because all paths through the air, sea, and overland evacuation were immensely difficult.
"Unlike in Egypt, the evacuation paths through the air, sea, and overland transportation were very difficult," said the Indonesian foreign affairs minister.
Consequently, Marty added that the evacuation of 875 Indonesian citizens in Libya could experience a big challenge because the government there was not open to facilitate.
However, he said the Indonesian government through the Foreign Affairs Ministry was preparing various options to perform emergency steps for the evacuation process for its citizens in Libya.
Therefore the minister called on Indonesian citizens in Libya to maintain communication with Indonesian Embassy in Tripoli and to ask for protection if necessary.
Marty said that of 875 Indonesian citizens in Libya, around 600 were migrant workers while the rest were students, and thus they were asked to remain alert and and avoid crowded places.
According to Reuters report, Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, speaking on Tuesday in a defiant but rambling speech, said he would call the people to "cleanse Libya house by house" unless protesters on the streets surrendered.
Libya`s security forces have cracked down fiercely on demonstrators across the country, with fighting seen in Tripoli after it first erupted in Libya`s oil-producing east last week, in a reaction to decades of repression and following uprisings that have toppled leaders in Tunisia and Egypt.(*)
Editor: Aditia Maruli Radja
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
