France announced that it will send Mistral warship to Libya to evacuate thousands of refugees flooding Libya after violent demonstrations rocked the Maghreb's large oil exporter, local media reported on Wednesday.

According to the daily Le Parisien report, France decided to send the Mistral warship to Libya to participate in evacuating Egyptian workers stranded in Libya as part of measures introduced by the European Union, the report added.

The Mistral, which is cruising off Portugal, was set to arrive at the Mediterranean port of Toulon on Thursday morning, then it will be bound for the Libyan coast.

Earlier in the day, French Foreign Ministry said the government intended to help evacuate at least 5,000 Egyptian refugees blocked at Libyan-Tunisian border by sending aircraft and the navy's transport ship.

Unrest and demonstrations spread out to Libya from neighboring states of Tunisia and Egypt as the Libyan protesters demanded that Libyan leader Gaddafi quit the presidency after 42-year's rule.