Canada's Harper going to Cyprus to pick up evacuees

PARIS, July 19 (Reuters) Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper was using his Canadian Forces Airbus to fly in to Cyprus TOday to pick up Canadians evacuated from Lebanon.

Harper was in Paris at the end of a week-long official visit to Britain, Russia and France, and decided to use the Canadian Forces Airbus that he was flying in to pick up as many citizens as he could before returning to Canada.

He expects to pick up 100 to 120 people.

''We believe there's a real need here, and we can make a more-than-symbolic contribution to helping the situation,'' said Harper, who has run into criticism for how long Canada was taking to evacuate Canadians.

Canada has arranged for seven commercial ships to move to Lebanon. Harper's spokeswoman Sandra Buckler said one was loading 350 people as she spoke and should arrive in Cyprus overnight.

Those from that ship who could not fit on Harper's plane would fly on another plane the Canadian government was chartering.

Reporters and some of the staff who had been travelling with him were being flown home separately from Paris to make more space on his military aircraft.

Buckler estimated Canada had 40,000 to 50,000 people in Lebanon, among the largest contingents of any western nation. She said it was not clear how many would want to leave.

Reuters PKS DB2121