CBS News has learned that an evacuation of Americans from Lebanon will most likely begin next week. The evacuation would be led by the USS Iwo Jima, and the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit would use its helicopters to ferry as many as 8,000 Americans to nearby Cyprus. It is the same way many Americans left the Lebanon in 1987. Former U.S. ambassador Ned Walker, who has helped coordinate a number of evacuations in the Mideast, told CBS News correspondent Joie Chen that embassies are prepared in advance for emergency evacuations. "Every embassy has a detailed plan on what to do," he said. "Every embassy has coordinated those plans with our military. They have video of the escape routes. They have it down to a 'T.'"
Earlier on Saturday the U.S. Embassy in Beirut said in a posting on its Web site that it was working on a plan to evacuate American citizens from Lebanon. "We are looking at how we might transport Americans to Cyprus. Once in Cyprus, Americans can then board commercial aircraft for onward travel," the statement said.