Evacuations underway as foreigners flee Lebanon

BEIRUT, July 17 (Reuters) A host of countries today 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 85 km west of Lebanon, from where a 1,300-capacity ferry chartered by France headed to the waters off Beirut today.

A former French colony, Lebanon is home to 17,000 French residents and up to another 5,000 French 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.'' SHIPS, BUSES AND PLANES An Italian military ship also left Larnaca for Lebanon today. 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 yesterday via Syria by plane.'' Britain evacuated around 40 people from Beirut by military helicopter today 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 today, including to Stockholm and Copenhagen.

It said Swedish, Norwegian and Danish ship evacuations were also planned.

Sweden said the evacuation of Swedes started yesterday with 16 chartered buses from Beirut to Syria. The Foreign Ministry said 1,300 Swedes had already reached Syria.

Ireland said it planned to evacuate up to 100 of its citizens by bus to Syria later today, 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 yesterday, 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.

REUTERS SHB RN1718