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A miner on strike stands in front of a burning barricade on the A-66 motorway, on the first day of a strike to protest the government's spending cuts in the mining sector, in Pola de Lena, near Oviedo, northern Spain, May 23, 2012. Spain's economy is contracting for the second time since late 2009 and four years of stagnation and recession have pushed unemployment above 24 percent, the highest rate in the European Union. REUTERS/Eloy Alonso

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Italy readying evacuation plan for Lebanon

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ROME | Fri May 9, 2008 8:23am EDT

ROME (Reuters) - Italy's foreign ministry said on Friday it was preparing an evacuation plan for its nationals in the Lebanese capital Beirut, where Hezbollah fighters and pro-government gunmen have been battling for three days.

A ministry spokesman said the plan was not operational yet and would be enforced only if necessary.

He said Italians in certain parts of the city were being offered safe shelter if they wanted to leave their homes.

"I wouldn't call it at this phase an evacuation. We are ready for that, we are preparing it in case of need," the spokesman said.

"But what we are trying to do now is help Italians living in a specific area of the city to leave that place and go (if they want) to a specific shelter."

There are about 600 Italians living in Beirut, about 50 of them in the part of the city affected by the fighting, the ministry said. There are nearly 1,400 Italians registered as living in Lebanon.

(Reporting by Phil Stewart, editing by Tim Pearce)
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