Special to WorldTribune.com

LONDON — Libya has been seeing the flight of its Western presence.

Western governments, including the European Union and NATO, have been evacuating their embassies in Libya in late July.

The evacuation came amid heavy fighting between Islamist militias that halted flights from the country’s largest airport.

“The situation in Libya is reaching a critical stage,” a statement by Western and Arab envoys said on July 26. “We are deeply concerned about the ongoing violence across the country and its humanitarian consequences.”

Hours later, the United States announced it pulled out all staffers from the embassy in Tripoli. The State Department said the embassy staffers were driven to neighboring Tunisia.

Officials said the U.S. Air Force deployed F-16 multi-role fighters and MV-22 vertical-lift aircraft to protect the withdrawal of diplomatic and military personnel. The evacuation was said to have taken five hours and no incidents were reported.

“This relocation was done over land, with our personnel arriving in Tunisia this morning, and traveling onward from there,” State Department deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf said.

Other Western embassies have also pulled out of Libya. They included Turkey, deemed a leading ally of the post-Gadhafi government in the North African state.

“We remind the Libyan government of its responsibility in ensuring the safety of the missions of the international community in Libya,” the Western and Arab envoys said in their statement. “We call on international and regional stakeholders to continue to engage constructively and contribute to these aims.”

  European Union, Marie Harf, U.S. State Department, Western nations evacuate embassies as Libya situation reaches ‘critical stage’