The UK is to help bring out 5,000 migrants trapped by fighting in western Libya, the UK's international development secretary has said.
Andrew Mitchell said funds of £1.5m would pay to charter ships to get people out of the rebel-held town of Misrata and provide medical supplies.
The minister is attending a UN meeting in New York to discuss the humanitarian situation in Libya.
Aid workers and Misrata residents have said the situation there is "dire".
They have reported shortages of food, power, water and medicine, as forces loyal to Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi intensify their shelling of the city.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-13115874
Note: 18 April 2011 Last updated at 13:19 GMT