Greece: cruise ship with French evacuees arrives in Cyprus

Greece: cruise ship with French evacuees arrives in Cyprus

A Greek cruise ship carrying about 700 French citizens and other Europeans arrived on this eastern Mediterranean island on Tuesday after leaving Beirut.

The passengers were taken off the ship and were apparently being taken to a nearby port building. The area around the ship was cordoned off.

The passengers aboard the cruise ship Ierapetra were seen off Monday by French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin, who met his Lebanese counterpart earlier that day, according to the AP.

France, which ruled Lebanon as a colony until 1943, has more than 20,000 citizens in Lebanon. Most of those who left Monday were of Lebanese origin.