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Nations move to evacuate expats from Lebanon

European and Arab nations and the United States moved on Saturday to evacuate expatriates and tourists from Lebanon as Israel bombarded the country.
One of two Italian C130 air force transp
An Italian C130 transport plane, foreground, parks next to Cyprus Airways and Alitalia planes to unload foreigners evacuated to Cyprus from northern Lebanon late on Saturday. Alex Mita / AFP - Getty Images
/ Source: Reuters

European and Arab nations and the United States moved on Saturday to evacuate expatriates and tourists from Lebanon as Israel bombarded the country.

An Italian convoy of vehicles left Beirut on Saturday while the United States, France, the Netherlands, Bulgaria, Poland, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates said plans were under way to ferry their citizens from Lebanon to Syria or Cyprus.

Britain said it was sending two Royal Navy ships to the Middle East amid contingency planning for a possible evacuation of British nationals. A defense ministry spokeswoman said 3,500 to 4,000 British families and 10,000 dual nationals were registered in Lebanon.

A Spanish military transport plane carrying 116 Spaniards and 10 other people landed at an air force base near Madrid on Saturday, having taken off from Damascus earlier. The passengers were driven to Syria from Beirut on Friday.

Some 410 people left Beirut in an Italian convoy of vehicles on Saturday, Italy’s foreign ministry said. The group was mostly made up of Italians and other Europeans, who were expected to arrive in the Syrian port city of Latakia.

Two C-130 Italian military aircraft will then fly the group back to Rome, with help from a commercial flight departing from Cyprus, the ministry said.

Flood of evacuees
At least 15,000 cars bearing foreign number plates left Lebanon on Thursday through the main crossing point with Syria at Masnaa, Lebanese customs officials said, with hotels emptied of their guests in a rush of buses and taxis that created tailbacks on the main Beirut to Damascus road.

The few tourists who have not left are stuck in Lebanon for the time being, with the airport closed by the Israeli strikes, the ports blockaded by its navy and the Beirut-Damascus road that winds through Mount Lebanon, damaged.

The U.S. State Department said it was working with the Defense Department on a plan to transport Americans to Cyprus, from where it recommended they return to the United States by commercial airlines.

The State Department estimates that about 25,000 U.S. citizens, including people with dual citizenship, live in Lebanon, although summer visits could expand that community.

Popular summer destination
“There are quite a number of Americans in Lebanon because, as you know, we have quite a big American-Lebanese community and many are there for the summer,” U.S. Assistant Secretary of State David Welch told CNN from Tripoli, Libya.

French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin said France had alerted its navy and readied civilian and military aircraft to help French citizens leave Lebanon, a former French colony.

Dutch authorities are preparing to provide transport for their citizens who wish to leave Lebanon, a spokeswoman for the Dutch Foreign Ministry said.

“We are working on a solution to transport people by boat to Cyprus,” the spokeswoman said. “I expect the first boat to leave in a few days.”

Bulgaria said it was preparing to help its citizens leave Lebanon “in close cooperation with our European Union partners”, the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The German Foreign Ministry advised its citizens in south Beirut to seek shelter with relatives or friends in safer areas of the city and to avoid airports, power stations and traffic junctions. Asked about evacuation, a ministry official said the government was preparing for all eventualities.

The United Arab Emirates said it had dedicated six aircraft to bringing home its nationals while the Saudi embassy in Beirut was organizing transport to Syria for Saudis wishing to leave.

Israeli planes have pounded Lebanon since an attack on Wednesday by Lebanese guerrilla group Hizbollah, which captured two Israeli soldiers. Israel’s campaign has killed 99 people, all but three of them civilians, and paralyzed the economy.