UK warship redeployed to aid Libya evacuation

LONDON – A British warship is being deployed off the Libyan coast in the event that it could be needed for a sea-borne evacuation of British citizens living there, the U.K.'s foreign secretary said Tuesday.

The frigate HMS Cumberland is sailing from the eastern Mediterranean to international waters off the coast of Libya "in case it is required to play a role assisting British nationals," William Hague said in a televised statement.

Hague also said that his government was seeking to send a charter flight to Libya to help British citizens leave but that it had yet to receive the necessary permission to land from Libyan authorities.

Many Britons are currently stranded in Tripoli airport "without immediate flights out of the country," he said.

Governments across the world are scrambling to evacuate citizens stranded by Libya's bloody unrest.