European Union leaders will hold a special summit on March 11 to discuss the situation in Libya and North Africa, EU officials informed.

Initially, leaders of 17 eurozone countries were due to attend the meeting and discuss plans for a competitiveness pact. However, the recent riots in Libya and other countries in the area have convinced leaders to refocus the meeting on the crisis in the region, international media reported.

The Italian government called for a summit dedicated to the situation in North Africa two weeks ago because of fears that the protests in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya would trigger a migrant wave to Italy and other EU countries.

The President of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, is expected to formally announce the date of the meeting later on Tuesday.

EU Foreign Policy chief, Catherine Ashton, is responsible for the preparations for the meeting, which will deal with the humanitarian and political response to the situation in Libya, where protests against longtime ruler Muammar Gaddafi are closing in on the capital Tripoli.

According to latest data from the United Nations refugee agency, nearly 150 000 foreign workers have crossed over the Libyan border to Tunisia and Egypt since the beginning of the protests.

They include citizens of Bangladesh, Ghana and Mali, and many of them have had everything stolen from them and are left with nothing but the clothes on their back, CNN reported.

The tension at the Libya-Tunisia border escalates as police used sticks to beat back people who tried to jump over a wall and escape the regime of Gaddafi. According to humanitarian workers, the water and sanitation situation at the border area are "precarious".

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