US expands sea, air evacuation from Lebanon

WASHINGTON, July 19 (Reuters) Nearly 1,100 Americans left Lebanon today aboard a commercial passenger ship and 160 more flew out on military helicopters as the United States greatly expanded the evacuation of its citizens.

As Israeli planes hit Lebanon on the eighth day of hostilities, an estimated 1,070 US citizens departed the port of Beirut bound for Cyprus aboard the Orient Queen, a passenger ship hired by the US government, the military said.

An additional 130 Americans arrived in Cyprus before dawn aboard another vessel, and CH-53 Sea Stallion helicopters carried 160 more from the Lebanese capital to the Mediterranean island today, the military said.

The US Navy said three of its ships arrived in the region, bringing the total to four, including an amphibious vessel expected to begin loading more evacuees.

In addition, the US government has hired the Vittoria M., an Italian-owned ferry which can carry 330 passengers, making it the third commercial ship to help in the evacuation, said Timothy Boulay, spokesman for the Military Sealift Command. It is due in Cyprus on Saturday.

Also previously hired was the Rahmah, a private Saudi-owned ship which can carry up to 1,400 passengers, which will begin ferrying people out in the coming days.

There has been some criticism of the slowness of the US evacuation effort. Other countries started to bring their citizens out of harm's way earlier.

Asked about this, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said, ''The goal here is the safe, orderly, organized, disciplined evacuation of American citizens.'' Sen. Robert Menendez, a Democrat from New Jersey, told reporters: ''I am so enraged with an administration that started late ... that has moved slowly, that is still moving slowly -- I see other countries hiring foreign carriers way before we did.'' He said he had talked to stranded constituents ''who told me the most incredible set of circumstances, a government that basically said fend for yourself.'' Whitman said the number of people the United States is capable of evacuating will top 2,000 on Thursday and 4,000 on Friday, although the actual numbers who leave might vary.

BUSH WARNING ''Although there is no evidence that Americans are being directly targeted, the security situation has deteriorated and now presents a potential threat to American citizens and the US Embassy,'' President George W. Bush said in a letter to congressional leaders describing US military activities related to the Lebanon fighting.

The departure of the Orient Queen was a big expansion of the US evacuation, and thousands more are due to be taken out in the next few days. The Pentagon has planned for evacuating between 5,000 and 8,000 people, a defense official said, but will be ready to evacuate more if necessary.

The State Department has said about 25,000 Americans were in Lebanon, but a smaller number -- about 15,000 -- have registered with the embassy as living or traveling there.

The three Navy ships arriving in the region were the USS Nashville, an amphibious transport dock able to take on up to 1,000 evacuees, the command and control ship USS Mount Whitney and the guided missile destroyer USS Barry, the Navy said.

They joined the guided missile destroyer USS Gonzalez, there to protect ships evacuating Americans.

Five more ships are on the way and are due to arrive later this week.

Reuters YA GC0104