By MASEMBE TAMBWE, 

THE government has started the first phase of evacuating 28 registered Tanzanian students from Libya who have requested to be returned home following the ongoing political crisis in the country.

“The government is keeping a very close eye on the situation in Libya. We are fortunate that there are not many Tanzanians in Libya but we have identified 22 sponsored students and six others who want to leave the country until the situation returns to normal,” the Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Mr Bernard Membe, said.

Mr Membe said in Dar es Salaam on Friday that the government was in close contact with the Libya Ambassador to Tanzania and that arrangements had been made for a Kenya Airways flight to airlift the Tanzanian nationals in the evening.

The minister assured the Libyan government that the students would return to proceed with their studies when peace is restored and that all colleges that refused students to go back home they would not be returned.

“I have spoken with the ambassador and he has assured me that although the situation was tense, it was manageable and that the Western parts of the country and the capital, Tripoli, were the most affected,” he said.

The government extended the same assistance to its nationals who were studying or living in Egypt during the uprising that removed the Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak from power last month. Over 50 students and other Tanzanians had been evacuated from Egypt.

Minister Membe, however, cautioned government officials from making hurried statements about what happened in Egypt and the situation in Libya saying that the comments could have dire effects to Tanzanian nationals residing in those countries.

“Tanzania also went through reforms that are taking place in northern Africa and these countries whose majority are friendly to Tanzania were not quick to speak out and we should reciprocate,” he said.

He said that while he wasn’t silencing people from fulfilling their human right to free speech, he called on everyone to exercise patience and restraint.

On President Kikwete’s trip to the Ivory Coast early this week, Mr Membe said the president in cooperation with four other Heads of State met in Mauritania on February 20, this year, for a strategic session prior to meeting experts in Ivory Coast.

He said that through interviews and probing conducted between February 21 and 22 it became evident that the root cause of the crisis in Ivory Coast was the Constitutional Court which mishandled the election results.

The Constitutional Court is mandated with the task of declaring the election results but it failed to abide by section 64 of its constitution that says if there is an annulment, then an independent electoral commission should call for another election within 45 days.

The Constitution Court for reasons best known to itself annulled the results of seven constituencies with a population of over 600,000 people which caused the court which reversed the results causing Alassane Ouattara to lose and Laurent Gbagbo to come out victorious.

Mr Membe revealed that a high level panel would meet on February 28, 2011 aimed at getting immediate political solution and come out with a stand that they will give the Africa Union (AU) Peace and Security Council for recommendations.

The leaders of Burkina Faso, Chad, Mauritania, South Africa and Tanzania make up the AU high level panel