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US military to deliver relief supplies to Lebanon in mission shift
Washington (AFP) Jul 24, 2006 The US military is winding down the evacuation of US nationals from Lebanon and will shift its mission to deliveries of relief supplies to non-governmental groups, a Pentagon spokesman said Monday. US military personnel were unlikely to go into conflict areas themselves, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said. "We are coming close to completion of the assisted departure operations, but ... we are going to be shifting our emphasis to a humanitarian effort and assisting with provisions of humanitarian assistance to areas where the conflict has affected people," he said. The State Department announced that the United States will contribute 30 million dollars to a fund for humanitarian supplies. Officials said US forces would start an airlift of 100,000 medical kits, 2,000 plastic sheets and 20,000 blankets on Tuesday to Cyprus. The supplies will be carried to Lebanon from Cyprus aboard faster commercial and military vessels, such as the USS Swift and the high-speed ferry Vittoria M, he said. The US amphibious assault ships that have been helping transport evacuees to ports in Cyprus and Turkey will remain in the area for now, he said. But the surge of American evacuees has subsided since Friday when about 4,000 people were moved out of Lebanon aboard US naval and chartered vessels, he said. Over the past 24 hours, another 2,166 left the country with US assistance. And 1,200 more were scheduled to leave Monday aboard the US-chartered cruise ship Orient Queen. "The US navy amphib evacuation support is now essentially complete given the fact that we have now reached pretty close to what the State Department thinks is the end of the assisted departures," he said. Whitman said it was unclear, however, how many Americans were left in Lebanon. Original estimates put the number of US nationals in Lebanon at about 25,000, and 12,600 have been evacuated so far, according to the State Department. Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Related Links
Senior Iraqi army officer criticizes US security approach
Wahsington (AFP) Jul 24, 2006 A top Iraqi military officer Monday drew a dark picture of the security situation in his war-torn country while on a visit to Washington and said the current US strategy lacked vision and had failed. |
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