Evacuation of Americans from Beirut winds down

BEIRUT, Lebanon -- Hovercraft landed on a sandy strip near Beirut's port on Saturday, whisking Americans away to the U.S. Navy ships. Others boarded a luxury cruiseliner enlisted in the evacuation of Americans.

The mass departure of U.S. citizens from Lebanon wound down Saturday, but the pain was just beginning for those with family ties to Lebanon.

Many younger Lebanese-Americans were fleeing to safety, while the older generation that experienced the 1975-1990 civil war, stayed behind despite the Israeli air assault.

The State Department said 10,000 Americans had been evacuated from Lebanon by Saturday. Ten U.S. Navy vessels were in the area for the operation. Some 25,000 Americans were estimated to be in Lebanon when the Israeli offensive began, but less than half were expected to flee.

--AP

Susan Abu Hamdan, who was visiting her siblings in Beirut, said it was difficult to say goodbye to the Lebanese left behind.

"Everybody's crying and kissing and wishing you well, and you have to turn and leave. We have the chance to get out, but they don't," the 44-year-old Northville, Mich., woman said. "But that's Lebanon for you -- you never know when you'll see someone again."

The U.S. State Department said Saturday it was waiving a requirement that departing Americans reimburse the government for travel costs.

Canada -- whose nationals make up Lebanon's largest foreign community, estimated at 50,000 -- struggled to evacuate hundreds of people huddling near Beirut's port for days. A few wept, having to leave behind a homeland shrouded with uncertainty.

Including the Americans, some 40,000 foreigners have fled Lebanon since an Israeli assault in response to Hezbollah's capture of two Israeli soldiers. Most have gone to the Mediterranean island of Cyprus, usually for only a few hours before being flown to their home countries.

Cyprus Foreign Minister George Lillikas said the island will need financial assistance from European countries if it is to keep receiving the tens of thousands of people who are fleeing the violence in Lebanon.