Hundreds flee bomb-ravaged Beirut
But many Westerners remain stranded in Lebanon
Tuesday, July 18, 2006; Posted: 12:25 p.m. EDT (16:25 GMT)
BEIRUT, Lebanon (CNN) -- Hundreds of Westerners have piled on to cruise ships to flee war-torn Lebanon, but tens of thousands remain stranded in the capital, Beirut, waiting for help to arrive.
The United States sent military helicopters to airlift 60 of the neediest people from its embassy on Tuesday, and a chartered cruise ship is set to sail through the Israeli naval blockade to collect more Americans who want to leave.
Video footage from the U.S. Defense Department showed women and children among a few dozen people boarding a military helicopter on what appeared to be a building's rooftop.
As of Monday, fewer than 70 of an estimated 25,000 Americans in Lebanon had left the country, which has come under daily attack by Israel since Hezbollah guerrillas captured two Israeli soldiers near the southern Lebanese border last week. (Watch as the first Americans are evacuated -- 1:39)
Nicholas Burns, U.S. undersecretary of state for political affairs, told CNN's "American Morning" on Tuesday that Americans were boarding a cruise ship in Beirut "right now."
A French ferry is one of a few vessels that have made it so far from Lebanon to Larnaca on the nearby Mediterranean island of Cyprus. From there, people are flying to their home countries.
More than 100 Europeans and Americans joined at least 800 French citizens on the French ferry, the lera Petra, which arrived Tuesday morning in Larnaca, the French Foreign Ministry said.
The ferry will return to Beirut on Wednesday and later in the week to evacuate more French, if the French military deems it safe, the ministry said.
Before being evacuated, Americans are being asked to sign promissory notes to repay the U.S. government for their journey.
That demand outraged House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, who said the United States has an obligation to get citizens out of harm's way "quickly and safely."
"The immediate risk to American lives also means this is no time for quibbling over payment for evacuation," the California Democrat said in a statement. "Whatever resources are needed to assist Americans in danger in Lebanon must be provided."
The State Department has warned Americans against traveling to Lebanon and said it can provide repatriation loans for those in financial need.
Anger at slow process
One American and his wife found passage on a Swedish-chartered ship, expressing anger at how long the U.S. evacuation process was taking, according to The Associated Press.
"I can't wait anymore. I'm sorry it's taking them too long," he told the AP. The man, who said he was from Pennsylvania, said he was too distraught to talk further and declined to give his name, according to the AP.
E-mails sent to CNN from people inside Lebanon suggest anger at the speed of the U.S. evacuation.
"A week into this conflict, and I am still waiting to hear back from the American Embassy," wrote Natalie Kerlakian of Denver, Colorado.
"The lines are constantly busy, and if you are lucky to get though, they put you on hold. All the other countries have or are in the process of evacuating their citizens, and we are still waiting. I hope this response will be better than that of Katrina."
A Canadian in Beirut to attend a wedding identified himself as J. Konduros and wrote of hearing jets fly over all day. In an e-mail to his cousin in the United States, he complained of the Ottawa government's lack of help.
"We just called the Canadian Embassy -- the local Beirut embassy is closed, and we get immediately routed to Ottawa to a voice-answering machine that says, 'Leave your name and country you are calling from and we'll get back to you,' " he wrote, ending the e-mail with an expletive.
Also in an e-mail to CNN, an American who identified herself as Kellee from Los Angeles, California, said she and her father were vacationing when the attacks began last week.
"We were set to leave the 14th of July, but since the bombings are stuck in Lebanon. We find ourselves like the Lebanese people: hostages, terrorized by Israeli bombs, with nobody to defend us. We are frantically awaiting relief from the U.S. Embassy," she wrote.
The U.S. Embassy in Beirut issued a statement Tuesday, saying: "Embassy personnel are now contacting Americans for a series of departures from Lebanon via air and sea."
The embassy told Americans not to move until contacted by its staff, adding: "Those who wish to leave should ready themselves immediately."
Some 150 American students at the American University in Beirut are scheduled to be evacuated Tuesday night via a boat, according to the U.S. Embassy.
Amphibious warships from the USS Iwo Jima strike group also are heading from the Red Sea to help with the evacuations, with the USS Nashville to arrive first either late Tuesday or early Wednesday, Pentagon officials said.
CNN's Chris Burns, Andrea Koppel, Elise Labott and Barbara Starr contributed to this report.
Copyright 2006 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.
unbelievable