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Topic: U.S. sending help to evacuate Americans from Leban (Read 223 times)

Rhune
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U.S. sending help to evacuate Americans from Leban
« on: Jul 17^th, 2006, 7:22pm »

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U.S. sending help to evacuate Americans from Lebanon
European nations also acting to get citizens out of country

Monday, July 17, 2006; Posted: 1:26 p.m. EDT (17:26 GMT)

BEIRUT, Lebanon (CNN) -- The U.S. military is positioning Navy and Marine vessels in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, while the State Department charters airliners and a cruise ship to help in the evacuation of Americans trapped by the conflict in Lebanon, Pentagon officials said Monday.

European nations also are taking actions to evacuate their citizens from the dangers posed by cross-border fighting between the Hezbollah militant group and Israel.

About 25,000 Americans are estimated to be in Lebanon, but it's unknown how many are hoping to leave.

The State Department has told U.S. citizens to "ready themselves immediately and await further instructions."

The USS Gonzalez, a Navy destroyer, is sailing to provide security for the evacuation mission, but Pentagon officials declined to say when it will arrive in the eastern Mediterranean.

The Israeli navy instituted a blockade of Lebanese ports last week, one of the measures it took after Hezbollah guerrillas abducted two Israeli soldiers. Israel also bombed Beirut's international airport, putting it out of commission and complicating evacuation planning.

Marines have begun loading onto amphibious warships anchored in the Red Sea off Jordan so they can move into position to help in the evacuation effort, the Pentagon said.

The State Department also has chartered the Orient Queen -- a Greek-flagged cruise ship -- in case it is needed to transport Americans, an official said.

Commercial airliners have been chartered to fly Americans from Cyprus to other destinations after they are airlifted from Lebanon, officials said.

Americans who don't have money to pay their way out of Lebanon will be allowed to sign promissory notes to get loans from the U.S. government, officials said.

A U.S. military helicopter was scheduled Monday to remove another few dozen citizens from Beirut to Cyprus, diplomatic officials said.

The day before, 21 Americans were flown to Cyprus, a State Department official said.

The Americans flown out aboard Marine helicopters Sunday included a family of four with a sick child, four students, someone with a medical emergency and a person accompanying the patient, said Maura Harty, assistant secretary for consular affairs.

Over the next few days, Americans first will be sent to Cyprus, Harty said. From there, they will be assisted in finding commercial or charter flights elsewhere, she said.

Three U.S. Marine CH-53 helicopters -- able to carry 36 passengers -- are on the ground in Cyprus, and others are on the way, the Pentagon said.

Those to be evacuated are priority cases, an official said, including people who are ill, the elderly and unaccompanied children.

Europeans send ships, buses
A bus filled with German tourists left a hotel Monday in Beirut, hoping to make it to the Syrian border.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair said two ships were on the way to Lebanon to evacuate British citizens. A British helicopter with 40 people on board left Lebanon on Monday en route to Cyprus, according to George Stylianou, a spokesman for the British Embassy.

Those flown out of Lebanon were considered "the most vulnerable," the British Foreign Office said.

France dispatched a ferry from Cyprus late Sunday to help evacuate 1,250 foreign nationals.

According to the French Foreign Ministry, the ship will carry 800 French, including 300 children, and 400 nationals from Germany, Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Spain, Finland, Greece, the Netherlands, Portugal, Sweden and Switzerland. Another 50 spots will be reserved for Americans.

The French will be flown Tuesday from Cyprus to Paris.

An Italian vessel also is expected to dock in the Cypriot port of Larnaca later Monday, carrying evacuees from Beirut, port officials said.

Canadian Foreign Minister Peter MacKay said Ottawa is doing "everything possible" to evacuate an estimated 40,000 Canadians in Lebanon. Eight Canadians were reported killed and six more critically wounded Sunday in Lebanon, he said.

The foreign ministry warned Canadians there to remain indoors "and limit your movement as much as possible."

MacKay said his government was working with other countries to line up commercial ships and arrange safe passage through the Israeli blockade.

"We'll be working closely with the British, Americans and French, who have similar challenges as far as their citizens inside Lebanon," he told Canadian broadcaster CTV.

U.S. Embassy urges Americans to register
U.S. officials said they want Americans seeking to leave Lebanon to register through the State Department via its Web site or by calling (888) 407-4747.

Family members outside Lebanon may register relatives stranded in the country who do not have access to the Internet or fax machines or who are having difficulty reaching the U.S. Embassy by phone, the State Department said.

About 800 Americans in Lebanon have registered with the embassy, Harty said. Many of them are dual nationals who make Lebanon their home.

Officials urged Americans to move to safe locations until the State Department notifies them via e-mail or the media that departure plans have been completed.

Harty said officials rejected plans to take U.S. nationals out of Lebanon by land -- something already completed by some European countries -- because it was deemed too dangerous.

Officials added that they have received anecdotal reports that some Americans were denied passage to Syria, even though Damascus had said they would be able to cross the border unimpeded.

State Department official James Jeffrey said an argument against Americans going into Syria was that "there is at least a theoretical possibility" that country could end up being involved in the violence.

The U.S. Embassy in Beirut will remain fully operational after the evacuation, officials said.

They said the ambassador's office will be open, and political, security and consular services will continue but may be short-staffed. Departures of U.S. personnel would be voluntary, officials said.

CNN's Chris Burns, Elise Labott and Barbara Starr contributed to this report.

« Last Edit: Jul 17^th, 2006, 7:23pm by Rhune »

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Isle_be_back
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Re: U.S. sending help to evacuate Americans from L
« Reply #1 on: Jul 18^th, 2006, 4:05am »

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Why can't they do this with our Americans in Iraq? Undecided

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Rhune
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Re: U.S. sending help to evacuate Americans from L
« Reply #2 on: Jul 18^th, 2006, 7:33pm »

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Rhune
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Re: U.S. sending help to evacuate Americans from L
« Reply #3 on: Jul 19^th, 2006, 11:49am »

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U.S. to evacuate 7,000 from Lebanon by Friday
State Department waives fees for Americans fleeing fighting

Wednesday, July 19, 2006; Posted: 12:05 p.m. EDT (16:05 GMT)

(CNN) -- The U.S. State Department said Wednesday it will help evacuate 7,000 Americans from war-torn Lebanon within the next two days.

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told CNN's "American Morning" that 1,000 would leave Wednesday, 2,000 Thursday and 4,000 more by Friday.

About 450 of the estimated 25,000 Americans in Lebanon have been evacuated to the nearby Mediterranean island of Cyprus since fighting between Israel and Hezbollah militants started July 12.

Wednesday's arrivals in Cyprus included dozens of U.S. college students who endured an 11-hour voyage on a dirty, crowded Norwegian-chartered car ferry to escape the violence.

Ashley Marinaccio, 20, a college student from Long Branch, New Jersey, said the ferry was like a "floating refugee camp" with "tons of flies," few places to sit or sleep, five toilets, a shortage of toilet paper and several ill passengers.

"It got really dirty," Marinaccio said.

"We knew that it would be over, and we were going to safety, so it was all we thought about."

The ship carried 1,100 Europeans -- but also made room for 127 U.S. citizens, including the students and several American families.

Marinaccio said it was it "really disappointing" that the U.S. Embassy told the students "we're assessing the situation" while others from the Netherlands, Switzerland and France had been evacuated three days earlier.

Thousands of people have been shipped out of Beirut's port on cruise ships and military vessels that must pass through an Israeli naval blockade as they take people to Cyprus, about about 100 miles (160 kilometers) northwest of Lebanon.

About 800 Americans and Britons left Beirut on Wednesday aboard the Orient Queen, a Greek cruise ship that the State Department chartered. That vessel is expected to arrive early Thursday in the Cypriot port of Larnaca.

It's unclear how many Americans are still trying to leave the country.

Evacuation effort criticized
Some lawmakers and relatives with family members stranded in Lebanon have complained that the State Department is moving too slowly to evacuate Americans.

In the face of that criticism, McCormack, the State Department official, defended the process, calling it "an international operation spanning three continents." He said that infrastructure was in place in Cyprus to take care of evacuees.

"We have been working very hard to make sure that our people get out in a safe, orderly and timely manner," McCormack said.

"Certainly, we would like to make sure that people get out as quickly as possible, but we want to make sure they're safe as well."

But Marinaccio said she was pleased the U.S. government had provided food for Americans aboard her ferry although she said it disturbed her that others were hungry and there wasn't enough to go around.

U.S. Navy SEALs pulled alongside the ferry to deliver boxes of chicken sandwiches, she said.

"It was for American citizens only and that actually made a big stink on the boat, because people who weren't American citizens were trying to get the food," Marinaccio said. "Other people were screaming, 'It's for Americans only, show your passport.' "

She added, "I understand this was the government's food, but in the case of an emergency, everybody needs to eat, whether you're an American or not."

In addition to frustrations at the pace of U.S. evacuations, others, especially Democratic lawmakers, expressed outrage that evacuees initially were going to have to pay to leave.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice ended the controversy Tuesday night, using her authority under the law to waive the fees people would have paid to the government.

"She wanted to go the extra mile to remove any possible worries that people might have. She understands they're in a very difficult situation," McCormack said.

"Any American who wants to get out of Lebanon is going to have that opportunity. And there will be no charge for that."

Stranded in war-torn country
Several Americans in Lebanon also wrote e-mails to CNN, expressing their frustration with the evacuation process.

"We are desperately trying to evacuate and have become more and more disappointed and angry with the way the evacuation is being handled," said Lina Fleihan of Greensboro, North Carolina. "We hear more about what's going on from CNN than we do from the U.S. government and the American Embassy here."

Natalie Kerlakian of Denver, Colorado, wrote that she had not heard from the embassy in a week.

"I hope this response will be better than that of Katrina," she wrote, referring to the heavily criticized government response to the hurricane that struck the Gulf Coast in August.

In addition to cruise ships, the State Department has arranged for six CH-53 Sea Stallion helicopters, which collectively can ferry about 300 passengers a day, to help in the evacuation effort.

The helicopters are reserved primarily for medical emergencies and were used Tuesday to airlift about 60 of the most vulnerable people from the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, the embassy said.

Warships from the United States, Britain, Spain and Italy are to provide security for the evacuation. Included in the flotilla are U.S. ships from a strike group led by the amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima, which was dispatched to the Mediterranean from the Red Sea to assist evacuations, Pentagon officials said Tuesday.

"These operations are taking place in a war zone," Army Brig. Gen. Mike Barbero said. "They involve passage through a strict blockade and are limited by the capacity of the ports and the degraded infrastructure in Lebanon."

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