AP: Ferry carrying Americans can't leave Libya

[pinboy3niner]

Feb. 24, 2011 5:24 AM ET

Ferry carrying Americans can't leave Libya

SUZAN FRASER, Associated Press

MARMARIS, Turkey (AP) — Rough seas prevented a ferry carrying hundreds of Americans from fleeing Libya's uprising on Thursday as Britain's government said it was considering whether to send its military to evacuate oil workers stranded by the strife.

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Strong winds have been whipping up high waves in the Mediterranean and the catamaran, Maria Dolores, was not likely to leave Tripoli's As-shahab port until Friday at the earliest, ferry officials said. The voyage is supposed to take six-to-eight hour.

"Citizens are safe on board. It will leave when the weather permits," U.S. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said in an earlier tweet.

A spokesman for the American Embassy said provisions are aboard the ferry, one of two in Libya now with a total capacity for evacuating more than 1,000 people.

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