21.   Meanwhile, France sent four military helicopters to Albania to evacuate its citizens and others, the Foreign Ministry in Paris said.

22.   Most French citizens were evacuated from Brazzaville during fighting earlier this year, but the embassy remains.

23.   On Monday, officials from Taiwan and the Philippines also said they are preparing to evacuate their citizens from Indonesia with military planes or ships if the need arises.

24.   Responding to the increasing threat, U.S. helicopters landed in Tirana to evacuate American citizens.

25.   Russia, meanwhile, was set to begin evacuating its citizens from Pakistan on Saturday.

26.   Several countries were readying plans to evacuate their citizens or ensure their safety.

27.   Six Japanese military transport planes and two patrol ships returned home Wednesday after a weeklong wait to evacuate Japanese citizens from Indonesia, the embassy said.

28.   Singapore, Thailand and Australia were making preparations to evacuate their citizens.

29.   Taiwan said it was completing plans to possibly send military transport planes and navy vessels to Indonesia to evacuate its citizens if violence worsens.

30.   Such units could evacuate European citizens from war zones, he said.