LONDON - The first of six British navy ships was arriving off Lebanon on Tuesday in order to carry out the first large-scale evacuation of Britons, Prime Minister Tony Blair said Tuesday. “We have acted as quickly as we possibly can,” Blair told reporters in London as the ships moved into the region to whisk away those among the 10,000 British nationals and 12,000 dual nationals who wanted to escape.
“We have taken out of Lebanon (by helicopter) the first 60 people and that was done yesterday. The first ship will come today so obviously we can take far larger numbers out. We have round about six ships now in the region,” he said. “We have a rapid deployment team there in Beirut. We will do everything we can to get people out as quickly as we can.
“This has been a big logistical operation -- we’ve also had to put reinforcements into (British bases in) Cyprus as well where people will be taken to.
“We are doing absolutely everything we can to make sure the evacuation happens as swiftly and as properly as possible,” he stressed.
Foreign Office minister Kim Howells said Monday that Britain was preparing for the biggest evacuation carried out by its military since World War II. |