Rebecca Rosen Lum. McClatchy - Tribune Business News [Washington] 19 July 2006.
Jul. 19--As U.S. helicopters and a Pentagon-chartered cruise ship began moving thousands of Americans out of Lebanon, Marina Krikorian voiced fears about a friend trapped in that country.
Only three weeks ago, Krikorian, 22, left Beirut, with its vibrant culture and nightlife, to spend a summer in her hometown, Berkeley.
Since then, Hezbollah guerrillas kidnapped two Israeli soldiers, kicking off a deadly retaliation that has reduced parts of the city to rubble.
Krikorian's friend, Lucy Mardikian, an American with family in the United States and Lebanon, is holed up in Anjar, in the Bekaa Valley.
"She can't leave, the roads have all been bombed out, and there is no Internet access," Krikorian said. "I'm worried."
She's not the only one. Some 25,000 Americans remain in Lebanon, about 10,000 of whom have requested transport out.
The U.S. State Department has stepped up the evacuation of its citizens from Lebanon -- 368 by Tuesday evening -- in helicopters and a cruise ship flanked by military guides. Beirut International Airport, crippled by bombings, remained closed.
The evacuation could take days. The Pentagon-chartered Orient Queen can hold only 876 passengers. And U.S. officials are cautioning against taking a land route into Syria, which they say is a major culprit in the crisis.
"We're trying to move quickly, trying to move large numbers of people as fast as we can," said Vice Adm. Patrick Walsh, the top U.S. naval officer in the Middle East.
Complicating the evacuation is Israel's naval blockade of Lebanon. All foreign governments ferrying their citizens to safety must coordinate their rescue operations with Israeli authorities.
State Department officials say while Syria is admitting Americans without visas, border crossings along the northern Lebanon-Syrian border have sustained damage. They also urge Americans who try to cross the border to exercise caution when traveling on major roads as air strikes could hit at any time.
The department Web site is instructing travelers not to bring pets along, and to limit baggage to one suitcase.
Amid fierce criticism, the government Tuesday abandoned its insistence that those requesting transport to safety agree to reimburse the government for the cost of the trip to Cyprus, and a flight to the United States if necessary.
By late Tuesday, Italy, France and England had shipped hundreds of their citizens and other westerners to safety.
Friends and relatives of Mardikian eagerly await her return to the Bay Area.
"The last time one of us talked to Lucy, there was shelling right near her," said her boss at Berkeley's La Mediterranee, Garbis Bagdassarian. "She was very scared."
Bagdassarian's brother Zareh is still in the country, but is safe, he said. His niece and nephew left Beirut for Atlanta the day shells tore into the airport.
Nick Weise of Walnut Creek has heard all the news reports. But he doesn't worry about his sister Rachel as long as they can keep up their daily e-mail contact -- and as long as she stays away from air and seaports. Israeli jets have bombed the ports of Beirut, Tripoli and Jamil Gemayel.
"It would be better if she weren't there," he said quietly.
Rachel Weise, a 21-year-old political science major at UC Berkeley, went to the Lebanese American University in Beirut to study Arabic for the summer. She remained in Beirut after violence erupted.
The last Weise saw of Beirut, she could see the airport smoking and hear bombs and anti-aircraft fire. An eerie quiet filled the street.
"I remember walking into the cafeteria during a coffee break and all the Lebanese students were really excited about something. It was the capture of the Israeli soldiers," she said in an e-mail message.
She hunkered down at the university, which she described as one of the safest spots in Beirut, then she moved to another location. The State Department has cautioned her and other Americans against divulging their whereabouts, thinking Hezbollah might take Americans hostage.
"All I can do right now is wait to hear anything from the government about getting out of the country," she said.
Weise said much of what has been said in the media has been exaggerated. Although parts of the country have been reduced to shambles, in many areas, life goes on as usual.
But for Krikorian, who is 10 months away from a master's degree in Middle Eastern studies, returning to Beirut, the city where she recently saw rapper 50 Cent in concert, is uncertain.
"It was a beautiful, beautiful city -- very western in certain parts," she said. "Since the civil war, they've done a fantastic job of renovating the old downtown.
"I don't know if I can go back. I love living there. The really tragic thing is that they've spent the past 15 years rebuilding the city. It's heartbreaking."
Credit: Contra Costa Times, Walnut Creek, Calif.
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