Can I make \directlua understand unicode chars like ≥, ≤, ≠, ∙, and −?

Question

MWE:

\directlua{%
  local abs=math.abs
  function gcd(x, y)
    if y \csstring\~= 0 then
      return gcd(y, x \csstring\% y)% I would like to write "≠" instead of "~=".
    else
      return abs(x)
    end
  end}

\directlua{tex.print(gcd(768,640))}% prints 128

\bye

Is there a way to write ≠ instead of ~= (or ≥ instead of >= inside directlua{...}? This would improve the readability.

Thanks.

Answer 1

{
\endlinechar=-1
\catcode`\≠\active
\catcode`\%\active
\gdef\zzz{\bgroup
\catcode`\≠\active\edef≠{\string~=}
\catcode`\%\active\edef%{\string%}
\zzzz}
\gdef\zzzz#1{\directlua{#1}\egroup}
}

\zzz{
  local abs=math.abs
  function gcd(x, y)
    if y ≠ 0 then
      return gcd(y, x % y)
    else
      return abs(x)
    end
  end}

\directlua{tex.print(gcd(768,640))}% prints 128

\bye