Libya Arab Spring Rescuing Oil Workers

Background

Libya Arab Spring Rescuing Oil Workers was our given objective of evacuating British and EU oil workers who were in Libya and desperately heading for the Algerian border when timing was critical.  Gaddafi loyalists were in hot pursuit of them, either to kill them or more probably take them as hostages.

Plan In Motion

Back in Algiers we were closely monitoring the situation that was developing in Libya. On 27 February, the UK mounted a military mission involving Royal Air Force (RAF) Hercules and Special Air Service (SAS) soldiers that flew into the Libyan desert and managed to evacuate 150 oil workers.

However, it was well known that a large number of foreign oil workers were still stranded in the south and west of the country.

The Ambassador immediately contacted London who agreed that we should try to mount an evacuation operation. This one would be a consular led mission as opposed to a military one and we had to move fast.

The latest intelligence we had on the oil workers was that they were heading for the Libyan town of Ghadames which lies on the Libyan/Algerian border.

It was decided that I would lead the mission and would be accompanied by Mustapha, one of our Embassy drivers who would act as interpreter, the British Defence Attache (a Colonel) and an armed Royal Military Policeman (RMP), one of the Ambassador’s close protection team.

The reason for the military presence would be their ability, using their special communications equipment, to liaise with UK military back in London for intelligence updates. I then visited the Algerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to get their approval for the trip and to ask for accompanying security en-route.

For this mission, we had decided to drive.

Start Of Mission:

It was a considerable distance, some 1300 Kms from Algiers to our proposed base of operations in the town of In-Amenas through the Atlas mountains and snaking through the northern Sahara desert. In addition, some of the provinces we would traverse were known to have active AQIM (Al Qaeda in the Maghreb) cells.

The Algerians agreed to provide security escorts for the whole of our trip and they did a wonderful job of looking after us the whole time.

Therefore it was with some trepidation we set off. The security situation and the areas we would have to travel through, even with our escorts was still a matter of concern. The time passed slowly as we drove through the Atlas mountains until finally we emerged from the mountains onto the desert plains.

By now it was late in the evening and dark as we reached the town of Ouargia where we spent the night.

The next morning at dawn, we set off for In-Amenas. Our aim was to head for the Sonatrach (the largest oil and gas company in Algeria who had agreed to help us) compound in the town, which would be our base for the duration of the operation.

Having arrived there and getting settled in, the Colonel contacted London who informed him that the oil workers had reached Ghadames, but the Libyan border guards would not let them cross the border until I had provided them with the official paperwork.

Further troubling news was that although Ghadames was in a Berber area,which had been actively anti-Gadaffi for years, pro-Gadaffi forces and militia were reported to be heading for the town in some force. So now time was definitely of the essence.

Libyan Border:

The next morning we left In-Amenas with our escort heading for the Algerian town of Deb-Deb which was just across the border from Ghadames. We arrived there in good time and while the Colonel established our presence with the local dignitaries.

 

I headed for the border post to establish contact with the oil workers. They were a pretty tired looking bunch, not really surprising given what they had been through but I assured them that I was working now with the Libyan and Algerian border officials to get all 16 of them across the border.

An Unexpected Surprise:

Imagine my surprise when they told me that yes, there were 16 EU citizens but they had also brought with them an additional 56 foreign workers from their site, mostly Filipinos, Malays and several other nationalities. The spokesman for the group said they would not come across and leave their non-EU colleagues behind.

So instead of 16 evacuees we now had 72, a major consular headache. Quick decisions needed to be made. I left the border post and met up again with the Colonel and explained the predicament. We both decided that if we had to get 72 out so be it.

I contacted the Embassy in Algiers and told them of the situation and that I intended to bring all 72 across the border.

I also agreed with the Colonel that he and Noel would stay overnight in Deb-Deb and keep tabs on the oil workers and brief them as to what was happening while I returned with my driver to In-Anemas to try and arrange coaches, accommodation and air transport.

For the next few, frantic hours was spent sorting out the logistical details in In-Anemas, arranging accommodation with Sonatrach, renting local coaches to convey everyone from Deb-Deb to In-Anemas and contacting London to get the German parent firm to arrange air transport for the party from In-Anemas back to Frankfurt.

I also spent most of the night redoing the official paperwork to show 72 evacuees instead of 16. To add to the urgency, I also received a call from the Colonel to say that we had to get the oil workers out within the next 24 hours as pro-Gadaffi forces were at that very moment nearing Ghadames. Time was critical.

So before dawn next morning we set off with my escort plus two coaches for Deb-Deb.

We arrived at lunchtime and I immediately got to work with the local Libyan and Algerian border officials to get clearance to bring the oil workers across the border.

Reaching Safety:

After what seemed like an eternity, paperwork was signed off and permissions were granted from both sides and the guys finally crossed over into Algerian territory.

I was not prepared to hang about, so everyone was unceremoniously bundled onto the coaches and picking up the Colonel and the RMP we left Debdeb for In-Anemas.

After spending the night at the Sonatrach compound, the party headed for In-Anemas airport as I had been called from our Embassy in Algiers on reaching In-Amenas to say that the German parent company had chartered a flight for midday the next day.

After the formalities of customs, we all assembled in the departure lounge for a farewell photograph prior to the party boarding their flight to Frankfurt and then finally they were gone.

So it was with a sense of relief that we set off on the long 1300 Kms return journey back to Algiers. The trip back was uneventful and tiring.

A Timely Evacuation:

We had been just in time. Pro-Gaddafi forces occupied Ghadames 12 hours after we got the guys out, so job well done. When I came to write up our post-operation report, I was pretty scathing of the German parent company.

They had known about the non-EU workers but had not told us. They were totally focussed in getting EU citizens out which was to my mind disgraceful.

The 16 EU oil workers in Ghadames whom we had originally planned to get out, despite giving me a major logistical problem, merited my fullest admiration for the loyalty they showed to their fellow non-EU workers in a dangerous situation, something their parent company singularly failed to do.

This evacuation of oil workers from Libya was my third evacuation during that period of the Arab Spring in 2011, the previous ones being the evacuation of British and EU nationals from Tunisia and then Egypt.

A true Band of Brothers.

*Unless otherwise stated, all images are from my own personal collection*

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