Italy's Foreign Minister, Paolo Gentiloni, has announced the closure of the country's embassy in Tripoli and the evacuation of its staff, due to the "deteriorating situation in Libya."
44 Italians were taken home on Sunday on a Virtu Ferries catamaran chartered by the Italian government.
On Sunday, the Italian coast guard rescued nearly 2,200 migrants who became stranded between the Libyan coast and the Italian island of Lampedusa.
(Sources: RT News, Times of Malta)