Thousands more flee Lebanon, Cyprus gets help

BEIRUT, July 21 (Reuters) U S helicopters plucked Americans from Beirut today and hundreds of Canadians arrived on the shores of Turkey in a huge evacuation of foreign nationals fleeing Israeli bombing in Lebanon.

Turkey volunteered to become a second transit point for the growing tide of distressed evacuees after Cyprus warned it could no longer bear the strain.

U S troops watched from rooftops around the U S embassy in the Lebanese capital as evacuees fleeing Israel's bombardment boarded helicopters taking them to U.S. warships offshore.

At a nearby beach, people with suitcases on top of their heads and some cradling babies in their arms queued for processing before climbing aboard a landing craft to take them to waiting ships.

''I felt like I was held hostage, not in a room but in a country,'' said Touf Hasoun, 45, from Pittsburg, looking relieved to be on board the USS Trenton headed for Cyprus. ''It drove me crazy not to be able to leave by air, sea or land.'' Brigadier General Carl Jensen, in charge of the operation at the beach, said: ''Already we have moved over 4,000 Americans.

Today in total, we hope to move at least 4,000.'' Cyprus warned it may not be able to handle the mass of evacuees arriving at the peak of its tourist season and the U.S.

embassy in Ankara said Turkey had agreed to help.

A Canadian ship with 1,000 evacuees has already docked in Turkey, and more than 100 Swedish nationals escaping the violence in Lebanon disembarked at the southern port of Mersin.

Workers were adding lights at Mersin's docks and a sports complex in the nearby city of Adana was turned into a camp, from where evacuees would be flown out.

''We are working at a capacity of about 1,000 people a day,'' Canadian ambassador to Ankara Yves Brodeur told Reuters.

EVACUEE FLOOD Yesterday, about 1,000 Americans disembarked in the Cypriot port of Larnaca from USS Nashville after being rescued by U S Marines.

Another 1,000 arrived at the port of Limassol on a cruise liner chartered by the U S government.

''They (the Israelis) are targeting civilians. They call themselves civilised, but they are barbaric. I don't want my kid to grow up like that,'' said Habib Kheil, a professor of mathematics from Michigan.

U S ambassador to Nicosia Ronald Schlicher said 5,000 Anericans had been brought out since July 15 and about 5,700 more were expected to arrive in Cyprus this weekend.

Cyprus, which has a population of just under a million, said it was struggling to deal with the crisis and could be forced to accept only EU nationals unless the EU helped.

''The European Union cannot leave a member state unaided in handling this truly serious humanitarian emergency,'' government spokesman Christodoulos Pashiardis said.

Cyprus was bracing for 20,000 Canadians among many others.

Officials say they expect an average of 4,000 people arriving each day, putting a huge strain on resources.

Ships from Italy, Britain, Greece and India also docked in Cyprus overnight, carrying people of diverse nationalities. A Cypriot vessel chartered by the United Nations brought 1,000 passengers to Larnaca. Many seemed shaken by their ordeal.

''There was shelling throughout Beirut during the time we were moored there. It was obviously distressing to those coming out,'' said U N security officer Simon Butt.

REUTERS PKS HT2247