Foreign Governments Issue Final Evacuation Orders in Lebanon

Warships, cruisers and ferries crisscrossed the eastern Mediterranean from ports in Lebanon toward Cyprus and Turkey, packed with evacuees, while planes brought more back to their homelands.

The German foreign ministry on Friday said it has evacuated 4,200 Germans from Lebanon since the Israeli offensive began but was struggling to reach those in the south of the country.

"The priority now is to evacuate those trapped in difficult conditions in the south. We are greatly concerned about them," ministry spokesman Martin Jaeger said.

He said so far the government has managed to evacuate 600 people from the south, which bore the brunt of Israel's bombardment and would be the first region to encounter fighting if Israel invaded.

Of these, 200 have arrived in Cyprus by boat and about 130 more would leave for the Mediterranean Island on Friday night.

Since Thursday, 2,300 Germans have been flown back home on chartered flights and military planes, Jaeger said.

About 780 others arrived back in Germany on Friday from the Jordanian capital Amman and from Larnaca in Cyprus.

Jaeger said Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier had asked Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz to allow the safe evacuation of Germany citizens from the south.

"We are doing everything possible to allow those who want to leave Lebanon to return home," he said.

Thousands still fleeing by sea

Some 3,000 Americans arrived in Cyprus early on Saturday aboard two US warships while France brought out around 1,500 evacuees on two vessels overnight.

Two boats carrying 339 Australians and some 200 Canadians docked in the Turkish port of Mersin, the foreign ministry said in Ankara. Two planes carrying more than 200 Russian evacuees also arrived in Moscow from the Syrian city of Latakia.

As thousands of weary but relieved evacuees huddled in makeshift transit centers, governments began warning nationals still in Lebanon that now was the time to leave if they wanted to get out.

BBC World Service radio broadcast warnings through the night to all remaining Britons in Lebanon who wanted to leave to gather at an assembly area in the capital on Saturday for the last ship out being planned by the British government.

"Today is the last day. It is the last scheduled evacuation for British nationals wanting to leave," said Derek Smith, spokesman for the British embassy in Beirut.

A sense of urgency

A British diplomat in Cyprus told AFP the authorities were keen to instill a sense of urgency in those still wanting to leave after some evacuee ships had left Beirut less than full in recent days. "We made this warning because we need to get them out. If they want to go time is running out," the diplomat said.

It is estimated that some 3,500 of an estimated 5,000 Britons who were in Lebanon when the crisis erupted have now left.

Australia's ambassador to Lebanon, Lyndall Sachs, told AFP that her country's efforts to evacuate many of the 25,000 Australians who had been in the country were also winding up at the weekend.

The last scheduled ships were due to leave for Cyprus and Turkey on Sunday, she said. "We'll definitely have ships tomorrow. Then we'll be keeping the situation under review," she said.

French will evacuate as long as nationals remain

The French embassy said it would continue its evacuation effort into at least next week "as long as there are French nationals who want to leave."

Sweden also moved to wind down its evacuation operations. The foreign ministry in Stockholm said it hoped to evacuate the last 300 Swedes still in Beirut on Saturday.

A total of 6,800 Swedes have now been evacuated, and 4,900 have already been flown home.

Some 500 Australian evacuees were due in Cyprus later on Saturday aboard the Greek warship Crete 2 while the British-chartered cruise liner, the Alkioni, was due to bring in the last batch of British evacuees.

EU offers help to overwhelmed Cyprus

With the small resort island of Cyprus -- the European Union's easternmost outpost -- reeling under the influx of tens of thousands of displaced arriving to coincide with the peak summer tourist season, the EU's executive arm announced assistance for its hard-pressed government.

"Discussions are currently under way with the Cypriot authorities as to how the coordination of this operation can be improved through an increase of the transport capacity made available," a statement said.

"An expert team is being composed and is due to arrive in Cyprus over the weekend."

Camps expanded as influx increases

With hotels full and not enough flights, the United States announced it had expanded the capacity of a makeshift transit camp erected at the Cyprus state fair in the capital Nicosia to accommodate 2,300 people.

Many evacuees are having to wait all day at the island's two international airports because there is nowhere else to accommodate them.

Several governments voiced concern for citizens trapped in south Lebanon by the intensive Israeli bombardment of the border region.

French Defense Minister Michele Alliot-Marie said around 400 French citizens were trapped there and that an operation would be mounted in the coming days to try to reach them.

A British official estimated there were around 100 Britons left in the south. "We believe it's not safe for them to leave at the moment," the official told AFP. "We are looking at ways to get them out. They are advised to keep a low profile and get ready for departure at short notice."