Ferry Carrying Americans Can't Leave Libya

Americans trying to flee the chaos of Libya's uprising are stuck waiting aboard a ferry because of rough seas.

The 600-passenger ferry at Tripoli's As-shahab port, which has been chartered by the U.S. government, was supposed to leave for Malta on Wednesday.

But a spokesman for the American Embassy in Malta said Thursday that bad weather made that impossible. Strong winds have been whipping up high waves in the Mediterranean.

The spokesman said provisions are aboard the ferry for the passengers.

Ferry officials say the boat won't be able to leave until Friday at the earliest.

People who escaped the chaos of Libya on two Turkish ships say they saw looting, bodies hanging from electric polls and militias driving vans filled with victims who had died in the uprising.

A Canadian, who only identified himself as George, says the terrifying situation there means "more attention should be paid to those who stayed behind." He was among the more than 3,000 evacuees who arrived at this Mediterranean Turkish port early Thursday.

Tens of thousands of foreigners are still stranded in Libya amid a pro-democracy rebellion against Moammar Gadhafi's rule.