By Josh White
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, July 18, 2006; A12

U.S. Marine Corps helicopters ferried 42 Americans to safety at a British air base in Cyprus yesterday as officials moved closer to a massive evacuation of thousands of U.S. citizens from besieged Lebanon.

The military began discussing plans to move an expeditionary strike group that includes 2,200 Marines to the Mediterranean Sea and hired a private cruise ship to take evacuees from Beirut to Cyprus, possibly as soon as today, U.S. officials said. The State Department advised U.S. citizens to avoid individual evacuations via increasingly dangerous Lebanese roads and border crossings with Syria.

Marine CH-53 Super Stallion helicopters evacuated about 65 people from Lebanon on Sunday and yesterday, and 50 more Americans were set to arrive in Cyprus early this morning on a French ship, according to State and Defense department officials.

As the conflict between Hezbollah and Israel has intensified, U.S. officials have begun what could become the largest evacuation since Americans exited Liberia a decade ago. State Department officials estimated that roughly 25,000 Americans are in Lebanon, 15,000 of whom had registered with the embassy by yesterday.

But the United States appeared to lag behind several other countries that have already evacuated hundreds of their citizens in the wake of the Israeli attacks. Some nations rented buses and sent people by road into Syria and on to Jordan, a route U.S. officials have deemed too dangerous.

Italy and France have evacuated more than 1,000 people between them, while Denmark has started evacuating 2,300 of its citizens and Sweden 850, according to the Associated Press.

Britain has managed a few evacuations, with helicopters landing near Beirut to take a few dozen passengers away yesterday and warships heading to Lebanon to take hundreds more in coming days. Syrian officials have estimated that tens of thousands of people have fled over their border in the past week.

The U.S. Embassy in Beirut yesterday sent messages to U.S. citizens there that it is monitoring the situation closely and is "reviewing all options for assisting Americans who wish to depart Lebanon." Because Beirut's international airport was closed after it was severely damaged by Israeli attacks, U.S. officials were relying on helicopters and ships as potential major evacuation methods.

Tom Miller, a spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Cyprus, said authorities there are planning on 2,500 to 6,000 U.S. evacuees arriving over the next few days. With Cyprus at the height of its tourist season and few hotel rooms available, Miller said embassy officials hope to use school dormitories and a local fairground to house them while arranging their return to the United States on commercial airlines.

"It's going to be fairly large-scale," said Miller, who anticipated logjams at airports in Cyprus.

The State Department urged U.S. citizens to remain in safe locations, advising against the drive to Damascus.

"Americans who attempt such crossings are advised to exercise great caution when traveling on major roads as they are subject to an air strike at any time," read the State Department statement to U.S. citizens in Lebanon. Israeli bombs over the past few days have targeted the roads leading to Syria.

Americans were told to prepare travel documents and to pack only one suitcase should they decide to leave.

The State Department chose to prepare a large-scale evacuation rather than allowing evacuees to filter out in small numbers. Officials have been coordinating their efforts with Lebanese and Israeli authorities to try to ensure a safe exodus.

"We're building up the assets in the region so that we can operate on a scale of moving thousands of people," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said yesterday. He said smaller-scale operations were not feasible.

Maj. Matt McLaughlin, a spokesman for the U.S. Central Command, said that an assessment team moved into Lebanon on Sunday to help the embassy plan for evacuations and that the command is awaiting the go-ahead from the U.S. ambassador for a wider effort. McLaughlin said that there would be "a gradual ramp-up in numbers that are coming out" and that the military is looking at all means of evacuation.

Military officials said yesterday that Marine Corps Brig. Gen. Carl Jensen, commander of the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, was in Cyprus leading coordination efforts. Helicopters from his unit were flying into Lebanon for early evacuations, and three other helicopters were standing by at the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, a Pentagon spokesman said.

The 24th MEU has been stationed in Jordan, conducting training exercises that recently ended. A naval destroyer from the unit's expeditionary strike group, the USS Gonzalez, was prepared to escort the civilian cruise ship Orient Queen to take roughly 750 people at a time from Beirut to Cyprus.

Military commanders also were discussing the move of the full strike group into the Mediterranean in preparation for a major evacuation. The 2,200 Marines in the 24th MEU would assist in getting people out of Lebanon but would not be involved in the conflict, military officials said.

Although the unit has not yet received orders to move, the Marines were loading ships in Jordan to head out to sea. Such a movement would require the battle group to sail through the Suez Canal and then north into the Mediterranean, which could take several days.

As part of their regular training, such Marine units practice civilian evacuations. "This is their bread and butter," McLaughlin said.

Staff writer Robin Wright contributed to this report.