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In Rome, the Defence Ministry said Italy was flying three C-130 transport planes with 80 soldiers on board to Nairobi to help evacuate Italians and other foreigners stranded in Rwanda.
Defence Minister Fabio Fabbri, who said he was in constant contact with his French and Belgian counterparts, said the aircraft would take off later Saturday.
In Geneva, the Swiss Foreign Ministry also ordered Swiss government employees in Rwanda to leave the country and urged the departure of all other Swiss nationals, apart from members of the Red Cross, a spokesman for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said.
ICRC spokesman Christian Meuwly said 30 of the 175 Swiss citizens in the east African country worked for the ICRC.
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