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LIBYA: Germans say they pulled off their own dramatic desert rescue

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A day after the British air force rescued 150 civilians from the Libyan desert in a secret mission it crowed about afterward, Germany said it performed its own secret rescue. Two German planes landed on a private runway Saturday and picked up 22 Germans and 112 others, according to Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle.

Germany decided to evacuate the civilians after it determined that their lives were in danger, according to the Associated Press. Westerwelle briefed members of the German parliament Friday to inform them of the mission; missions abroad require parliament’s support.

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The planes took the evacuees to the Greek island of Crete.

The British evacuations were popular with the press, which had criticized the government for attempts to evacuate citizens that were thwarted by bad weather and mechanical problems. The headline in the Sun boasted ‘SAS Gets 150 Brits Out of Libya,’ and the Daily Mail called the rescuers a ‘crack team of commandos.’

-- Alana Semuels

Lino Azzopardi / European Pressphoto Agency

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