Evacuations under way as foreigners flee Lebanon
貝魯特消息：在以色列投彈突襲黎巴嫩的第六天后，大批國家紛紛讓國民逃離黎巴嫩。
身在以色列的歐洲公民們云集在大使館門外，歐盟已催促以色例確保成千上萬在黎巴嫩的歐洲公民的人身安全。
以下是詳細(xì)報道：
BEIRUT: A host of countries were evacuating their nationals from Lebanon as Israeli air strikes pounded the country for a sixth day.
As Europeans crowded outside their embassies, the European Union urged Israel to guarantee the safety of tens of thousands of EU citizens in Lebanon.
Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja of Finland, which holds the EU presidency, told reporters: "Several times I have been in touch with the Israeli minister and urged them to give clear guarantees these people are not endangered."
Many of the evacuees were expected to arrive in the port of Larnaca, Cyprus, about 85km west of Lebanon, from where a 1300-capacity ferry chartered by France headed to the waters off Beirut on Monday.
A former French colony, Lebanon is home to 17,000 French residents and up to another 5000 French people visiting the country.
Hundreds of French nationals gathered near the French embassy in Beirut on Monday waiting to be taken by bus to board the ferry.
Fouad Jawad, a 17-year-old student, burst into tears at the sound of the loud blasts of Israeli missiles bombing Hizbollah's stronghold in a Beirut suburb to the south.
"Our family are still there, were are afraid that something happened to them. They have not been answering their phones," Jawad said as he waited outside the embassy.
Mohammed Koubaissi, 40, a businessman taking his family to safety, said: "No one cares about Arab lives. Having a European nationality is like a pass from hell to heaven."
An Italian military ship also left Larnaca for Lebanon on Monday. An Italian embassy official in Nicosia said: "The situation is very flexible. We should have 200 Italians plus 120 non-Italians. This is our second operation, we took away 450 people on Saturday and Sunday via Syria by plane."
Britain evacuated around 40 people from Beirut by military helicopter on Monday and Royal Navy warships moved towards the coast for a possible evacuation of about 10,000 British passport holders.
James Watt, Britain's ambassador to Lebanon, said the advice to remaining British nationals was "stay put and keep safe" until a larger evacuation was possible. He said the ships should be in position to begin evacuations within the next day or two.
The Finnish Foreign Ministry said the evacuation of up to 160 Finnish and other EU nationals, expatriates and tourists, would take place by ship to Larnaca or by bus from Beirut to Damascus. Several flights were lined up from Damascus to Europe for later on Monday, including to Stockholm and Copenhagen.
It said Swedish, Norwegian and Danish ship evacuations were also planned.
Sweden said the evacuation of Swedes started on Sunday with 16 chartered buses from Beirut to Syria. The Foreign Ministry said 1300 Swedes had already reached Syria.
Ireland said it planned to evacuate up to 100 of its citizens by bus to Syria later on Monday, while Greek officials said a Greek navy frigate was heading to Larnaca to await orders.
Since Thursday, thousands of foreigners were reported to have left Lebanon by car to neighbouring Syria, forced to flee overland after Israeli forces bombed Beirut's airport.
A US Marine helicopter with 21 passengers – non-essential US embassy staff and Americans with compelling medical needs – left Lebanon for Cyprus on Sunday, US officials said.
A White House National Security Council spokesman said the US embassy would remain open and that Washington planned to transport Americans to Cyprus. The State Department estimates that about 25,000 US citizens, including people with dual citizenship, live in Lebanon.
Canada was preparing to evacuate its citizens, Foreign Minister Peter MacKay said after seven Canadians were killed in Lebanon. Around 16,000 Canadians have registered with the embassy but MacKay said the real figure could be as high as 40,000. Canada has a significant population of Lebanese origin.
貝魯特消息：在以色列投彈突襲黎巴嫩的第六天后，大批國家紛紛讓國民逃離黎巴嫩。
身在以色列的歐洲公民們云集在大使館門外，歐盟已催促以色例確保成千上萬在黎巴嫩的歐洲公民的人身安全。
以下是詳細(xì)報道：
BEIRUT: A host of countries were evacuating their nationals from Lebanon as Israeli air strikes pounded the country for a sixth day.
As Europeans crowded outside their embassies, the European Union urged Israel to guarantee the safety of tens of thousands of EU citizens in Lebanon.
Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja of Finland, which holds the EU presidency, told reporters: "Several times I have been in touch with the Israeli minister and urged them to give clear guarantees these people are not endangered."
Many of the evacuees were expected to arrive in the port of Larnaca, Cyprus, about 85km west of Lebanon, from where a 1300-capacity ferry chartered by France headed to the waters off Beirut on Monday.
A former French colony, Lebanon is home to 17,000 French residents and up to another 5000 French people visiting the country.
Hundreds of French nationals gathered near the French embassy in Beirut on Monday waiting to be taken by bus to board the ferry.
Fouad Jawad, a 17-year-old student, burst into tears at the sound of the loud blasts of Israeli missiles bombing Hizbollah's stronghold in a Beirut suburb to the south.
"Our family are still there, were are afraid that something happened to them. They have not been answering their phones," Jawad said as he waited outside the embassy.
Mohammed Koubaissi, 40, a businessman taking his family to safety, said: "No one cares about Arab lives. Having a European nationality is like a pass from hell to heaven."
An Italian military ship also left Larnaca for Lebanon on Monday. An Italian embassy official in Nicosia said: "The situation is very flexible. We should have 200 Italians plus 120 non-Italians. This is our second operation, we took away 450 people on Saturday and Sunday via Syria by plane."
Britain evacuated around 40 people from Beirut by military helicopter on Monday and Royal Navy warships moved towards the coast for a possible evacuation of about 10,000 British passport holders.
James Watt, Britain's ambassador to Lebanon, said the advice to remaining British nationals was "stay put and keep safe" until a larger evacuation was possible. He said the ships should be in position to begin evacuations within the next day or two.
The Finnish Foreign Ministry said the evacuation of up to 160 Finnish and other EU nationals, expatriates and tourists, would take place by ship to Larnaca or by bus from Beirut to Damascus. Several flights were lined up from Damascus to Europe for later on Monday, including to Stockholm and Copenhagen.
It said Swedish, Norwegian and Danish ship evacuations were also planned.
Sweden said the evacuation of Swedes started on Sunday with 16 chartered buses from Beirut to Syria. The Foreign Ministry said 1300 Swedes had already reached Syria.
Ireland said it planned to evacuate up to 100 of its citizens by bus to Syria later on Monday, while Greek officials said a Greek navy frigate was heading to Larnaca to await orders.
Since Thursday, thousands of foreigners were reported to have left Lebanon by car to neighbouring Syria, forced to flee overland after Israeli forces bombed Beirut's airport.
A US Marine helicopter with 21 passengers – non-essential US embassy staff and Americans with compelling medical needs – left Lebanon for Cyprus on Sunday, US officials said.
A White House National Security Council spokesman said the US embassy would remain open and that Washington planned to transport Americans to Cyprus. The State Department estimates that about 25,000 US citizens, including people with dual citizenship, live in Lebanon.
Canada was preparing to evacuate its citizens, Foreign Minister Peter MacKay said after seven Canadians were killed in Lebanon. Around 16,000 Canadians have registered with the embassy but MacKay said the real figure could be as high as 40,000. Canada has a significant population of Lebanese origin.