Helicopters Lift Some U.S. Employees Out of Beirut

U.S. Army helicopters airlifted over a dozen American Embassy personnel from Beirut to Cyprus today to avoid danger from fighting in Lebanon’s embattled capital, U.S. defense officials said.

The officials said about 25 workers remained on duty in the embassy after the other U.S. personnel were flown about 150 miles to the Mediterranean island in Army UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters at the State Department’s request.

Later, State Department spokesman Charles E. Redman told reporters: “After carefully considering the security situation . . . we have withdrawn today some members of our embassy staff. The embassy continues to function with a minimal staff, and we will continue to monitor the situation.

“The recent fighting and the deteriorating security situation in East Beirut underscore the urgent need for all Lebanese to work together to restore the legitimate national institutions of Lebanon.”

At two earlier briefings this week, Redman urged the mainly Christian factions battling in Beirut near the embassy to end the bloodshed. Troops and Christian militiamen fought fiercely in Lebanon’s Christian heartland, defying a church-mediated truce and heightening fears of an all-out war.

Three days of street fighting and artillery bombardments gave way to sporadic exchanges of machine-gun fire today after a truce was mediated by the Maronite Christian Church.

U.S. Army Lt. Col. Keith Schneider, a Defense Department spokesman, called today’s move a “humanitarian airlift.” He said the Blackhawk helicopters are based at Larnaca, Cyprus, for routine embassy support.

At least 57 people have been killed and 130 wounded in this week’s fighting in the embattled Lebanese capital.

The State Department said Thursday that the embassy and some embassy houses had been hit by shells.