Agency Plans to Rescue Foreigners From Tripoli

Another sign that rebels are tightening their grip on Moammar Gadhafi: An international agency says it plans to evacuate thousands of foreign workers from Tripoli, reports Reuters. The foreigners are mostly Egyptians who have no easy way out now that rebels have closed in on the capital and shut highways. The International Organization for Migration is trying to organize a rescue effort in the next few days, probably by sea.

"We have a very limited window of opportunity to carry out this operation because of the fighting," says a spokeswoman. The tricky part, notes the BBC, is that such an evacuation would probably require the cooperation of the rebels, NATO, and the Libyan government. Rumors are swirling, meanwhile, that Gadhafi himself is planning to flee the country. (More Libya stories.)