Sweden has sent a military transport plane to Libya to evacuate foreign and Swedish nationals to Malta, the foreign ministry said Sunday.

About 20 of the 40 Swedes living or working in Libya had told authorities they wanted to leave and the first were expected to be moved out on Sunday, ministry spokeswoman Cecilia Julin told AFP.

Others had said they wanted to wait to see how the situation develops or would leave on their own, she said.

Sweden closed its embassy in Tripoli in 1995.