Most Kiwis out of Lebanon

Six New Zealanders were last night still waiting for transport out of Lebanon, while others are on charter flights and could be home by tonight.

Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesman Brad Tattersfield said yesterday that about 63 New Zealand nationals had been evacuated to Cyprus, 12 had already left Cyprus or escaped by road from Lebanon and about 20 others had opted to stay.

About 100 New Zealanders are understood to have been in Lebanon before the present conflict began.

Early yesterday Israel bombed Hizbollah's stronghold in Beirut and a south Lebanon city, hours after seizing a strategic Lebanese frontier village.

At least a dozen explosions shook the northern Israeli city of Haifa in a new wave of Hizbollah rocket attacks on the area, killing two people and wounding at least six others. Israel's 12-day-old onslaught in Lebanon to cripple Hizbollah has claimed 355 lives, mostly civilians. Hizbollah attacks have killed 34 Israelis.

A 10-strong New Zealand group yesterday paid its way on to flights chartered by the Australian Government.

The flight was due to leave Cyprus, bound for Perth and Sydney, about 8 o'clock last night New Zealand time.

In Cyprus, Bronwyn Wood said she and her two children were "very, very fraught", after managing to escape Lebanon on Friday.

Her husband, Andrew Greig, an Air Force squadron leader, is still in Lebanon, but was relieved to hear his family were now safe.

Ms Wood's mother, Beulah Wood, of Mt Albert, Auckland, said last night that her daughter and grandchildren had endured "hours longer than expected" on the ferry crossing to Cyprus, but were now in a hotel.

"She sounded calm and collected, but they had all lost weight; they were all a little jittery," Mrs Wood said.

"There were still a lot of decisions to be made."

Her grandson Oliver, 4, was "quite happy, and practising his swimming", but 6-year-old Josia was still "pretty unsettled" after his experiences in Beirut.

"He still can't believe he is safe ... [he's] a pretty fraught little boy."

Mrs Wood said her daughter would probably take the boys to stay with relatives in Britain.

But Squadron Leader Greig would most likely stay in Lebanon for the term of his six-month posting. He is working in Lebanon as a UN observer.

Manukau couple Elias and Henriette Nakhle were last night enjoying the calm of Dubai after being evacuated from Beirut by a British warship on Friday.

The couple - both property developers - got a commercial flight to Dubai soon after arriving in Cyprus.