JULY 21, 2006 - 13:45 Local Time (GMT+0200)

Situation Update

 

• As of 1 p.m. today the U.S. Press Center and the team onsite have worked together to facilitate roughly 25 interviews from approximately 10 different outlets - from U.S., wire, and international press.

  More than 3700 American citizens have been transported out of Lebanon by the United States since Sunday, July 16, 2006.

• This number includes more than 2,250 departees who left Beirut via the USS Nashville, the Orient Queen, and helicopter flights on Thursday, July 20, most of whom are Americans. Among those on the Orient Queen are the 341 passengers from Southern Lebanon. Our Embassy in Damascus has confirmed another 400 people made it out by land to Syria .
  
• The first charter flight arrived today at Baltimore-Washington Airport , carrying 138 people. The Department of Health and Human Services, the Red Cross, Maryland state government, local, federal officials were present to provide assistance.
  
• A convoy from Southern Lebanon brought 341 American citizens out of harm's way by bus and they are now on the Orient Queen for onward travel to Cyprus .

• We are now ramping up operations at Mersin , Turkey to serve as an additional transportation hub for American citizens to serve a greater number of American citizens. The first group is expected to arrive in Mersin on Saturday.

• American personnel assisted U.S. citizens arriving from Lebanon

  We transported over 1,200 citizens out of Lebanon to Cyprus on Wednesday, July 19, 2006

• 160 via helicopter flights (2 sorties of 2 helicopters each)
• 1,040 Americans arrived in Cyprus on the Orient Queen
• 10 via Canadian chartered ships

• We will continue to transport Americans using all resources available. The assets assigned or contracted to help in this effort include:

• Helicopter flights (4 sorties of 2 helicopters each)
• The MS Ramah, a Saudi-owned, Panamanian-flagged, passenger vessel
• The Orient Queen
• The Vittoria M, a United States-chartered Italian passenger vessel
• Canadian chartered ships
• Canadian ship Blue Dawn
• The USS Nashville
• The USS Iwo Jima
• The USS Whidbey Island
• The USS Trenton
• The USS Swift

• We are working to provide onward travel from Cyprus . As of this morning, we have chartered 9 flights to provide for onward travel from Cyprus and arrangements are continuing. The first flight arrived in Baltimore, Maryland on July 20 with 138 American Citizens.
  

Photo gallery of the arrival of the USS Nashville
Photo gallery of the arrival of the Orient Queen (below)

• U.S. citizens in Southern Lebanon are urged to register with the U.S. embassy online at https://travelregistration.state.gov or by fax at +961 4 544 209 or +961 4 544 037.
  
• For information about the assisted departure, U.S. citizens may call 1-888-407-4747 (from the U.S.) or 1-202-501-4444 (from outside the U.S.) - MORE PHONE NUMBERS
  
• Buses will be provided to transport U.S. citizens in Southern Lebanon to ships for departure.

Situation Update

• Approximately 1,600 American Citizens have been transported out of Lebanon by the United States since Sunday, July 16, 2006.
  
• Over 1,200 citizens were transported out of Lebanon to Cyprus yesterday, Wednesday, July 19, 2006. 160 via helicopter flights.
  
• At least 1,050 U.S. citizens arrived in Cyprus by sea. Orient Queen has delivered approximately 1,040 and is returning to Beirut for a second group of passengers. The U.S. will continue to transport Americans using all resources available. The assets assigned or contracted to help in this effort include several air, land, and sea vessels.
  
• The U.S. is working to provide onward travel from Cyprus. As of this morning, the U.S. has chartered 9 flights to provide for onward travel from Cyprus and arrangements are continuing.
  
• In this extraordinary case, Secretary Rice has directed the State Department to waive the requirement for American citizens departing Lebanon to reimburse the State Department for travel costs.

Special Briefing With Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs Maura Harty and Department of Defence Deputy Director for Regional Operations of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Brigadier General Barbero (complete text)

The U.S. Government is using all resources possible to facilitate the speedy and safe departure of American citizens currently in Lebanon using every means available. The departure of every single American citizen who wishes to leave Lebanon is the first priority for the U.S. Government. The Secretary of State and the Secretary of Defence are ensuring that all available military, civilian, and private sector resources in the region are being directed to accomplish this goal. The U.S. Embassy in Beirut has made possible the departure of over 1,500 American citizens via helicopter and cruise ship in the past four days. Urgent medical need cases are still the first priority. (complete text)

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton addressed journalists in New York after a U.N. Security Council meeting on the situation in the Middle East on Thursday, July 20. The United States is "looking for a solution that will fundamentally change the reality in the region and spare the peoples of Israel and Lebanon, in particular, from the threat of terrorism," Bolton said. (complete text)

United Nations -- Syria is becoming a serious stumbling block in international diplomatic efforts to end the fighting in Lebanon, U.S. officials say. In the U.N. Security Council July 20, Secretary-General Kofi Annan outlined his plan for a wide-ranging settlement and reported on the efforts of the three-person mission, led by Vijay Nambiar, that he sent to the region July 13 as the fighting intensified. (complete text)