A daring rescue operation by Special Forces flew scores of British citizens out of Libya last night as the net closed in on Col Muammar Gaddafi.

In a daylight mission, the RAF, Special Air Service and Special Boat Service used two specially equipped Hercules aircraft to snatch Britons from the country. However, 300 oil workers from Britain remained stranded in desert camps last night.
The rescue teams, who flew out of bases in Malta, searched an area four times the size of Britain to locate workers before evacuating them back to Valletta in Malta last night.

They were given food and water and medical assistance before being taken to hotels to rest. They will begin arriving home today.
Within hours of them arriving back to safety, the international community ratcheted up the pressure on the Libyan dictator as the security situation in the country deteriorated. The British embassy in Tripoli was closed and its staff hurriedly evacuated.

William Hague, the Foreign Secretary, disclosed that a major international diplomatic offensive against the dictator was starting.

You gotta love the balls, sounds like something only Israel might do!

What a successful operation! Right at Quaddafi's backyard, dos SAFs sneaked in and cleanly evacd dos peeps wtout hassles. I salute, abeg.

kini big deal ?

i wonder.

Anyone who understands the British press will know this has been blown out of all proportion! This 'daring' rescue was no different to the coastguard flying a search and rescue helicopter looking for people onboard an capsized yatch. It isnt like Libya has deployed its military's air defence systems to intercept and shoot down 'enemy' aircraft or a case of thousands of soldiers having been deployed in a full scale war. What is going on in Libya is street protests with a serious crackdown on the protesters by the evil forces of Gadaffi. What the protesters are doing is a 100 times more impressive than what the British military has done.

The only 'daring' thing the British did is to have flown into Libya probably without air traffic clearance from the Libyans. This is no big deal considering the fact that the French and Germans where doing that all throughout last week in and out of Tripoli Airport.

norrisman:

Anyone who understands the British press will know this has been blown out of all proportion! This 'daring' rescue was no different to the coastguard flying a search and rescue helicopter looking for people onboard an capsized yatch. It isnt like Libya has deployed its military's air defence systems to intercept and shoot down 'enemy' aircraft or a case of thousands of soldiers having been deployed in a full scale war. What is going on in Libya is street protests with a serious crackdown on the protesters by the evil forces of Gadaffi. What the protesters are doing is a 100 times more impressive than what the British military has done.

The only 'daring' thing the British did is to have flown into Libya probably without air traffic clearance from the Libyans. This is no big deal considering the fact that the French and Germans where doing that all throughout last week in and out of Tripoli Airport.

'No big deal'?
Take it from me, kid. You don't send in the SAS, SBS, Delta Force, SEALs or Spetznaz for 'no big deal'.

That is all.

texazzpete:

'No big deal'?
Take it from me, kid. You don't send in the SAS, SBS, Delta Force, SEALs or Spetznaz for 'no big deal'.

That is all.

Kid? 

Macho men on Nairaland!!!

Can you tell me which dangers otside what is normal for military forces did the SAS face flying and landing C130s on landing strips in the open desert picking up British citizens from known locations. Like I said, the French and Germans flew into Tripoli all throughout last week to extract their citizens?

What others did 8, 10 days ago.

Why is this even in the Politics section?

It should be in the Foreign Affairs section.

Mods please do your duty biko.

China did this without making a fuss.