"We just got a request from the Egyptian transitional government and from the Tunisian government to help repatriate as many people as possible to Egypt," Foreign Minister Franco Frattini told a news conference on Wednesday.
He said Italy was planning to set up a camp on the Libya-Tunisia border in cooperation with United Nations authorities, to provide food and first aid to people fleeing Libya and help identify Egyptians who can be repatriated.
"We will then bring them safely to Egypt on our ships, military vessels or planes, to the port of Alexandria or to the airport of Cairo," Frattini said.
The refugee emergency created by the uprising against Muammar Gaddafi in Libya and the ensuing violence is straining Tunisia's aid capacity to the limit.
Frattini estimated there were about 77,000 people escaping Libya in the border area near Ras Jdir, and about 70 percent of them were Egyptian workers.
He said an Italian ship hoped to leave soon to bring humanitarian aid to Benghazi in Libya, depending on the security situation.
Short link: