Catherine Ashton, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, has today sent a technical fact-finding mission to Libya - the first international mission of its kind to the country since the recent violence.

The team will be led by Agostino Miozzo, Managing Director in the European External Action Service for Crisis Response and Operational Coordination. Its aim will be to assess humanitarian and evacuation efforts on the ground in Libya to make an appraisal of what may be needed in terms of additional support.

"I have decided to dispatch this high level mission to provide me with first-hand, real-time information to feed into the discussions leading up to Friday's extraordinary European Council when I will update Heads of State and Government on the situation," Catherine Ashton said.

"I would like to thank Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini and the Italian government for helping the EEAS in facilitating this important mission."

Mr Miozzo will be available to the media during the visit. He hopes to hold a press conference in Tripoli on Monday and he will brief the press in Brussels on his return.