GERMANY'S FOREIGN MINISTRY SAID FRIDAY IT REMAINED CONCERNED OVER THE SITUATION OF GERMAN NATIONALS TRAPPED IN SOUTHERN LEBANON BUT THAT IT HAD NO CONCRETE FIGURES ON THE NUMBER OF ITS CITIZENS STILL IN WAR-TORN THE COUNTRY, REPORTED DPA. A CONVOY OF 130 GERMAN CITIZENS ORGANISED BY THE GERMAN EMBASSY IN BEIRUT WAS TRAVELLING FROM SIDON TO THE LEBANESE CAPITAL FROM WHICH THEY WILL BE TAKEN BY SHIP TO CYPRUS, SAID A STATEMENT. SO FAR MORE THAN 400 GERMANS HAVE BEEN EVACUATED OUT OF SIDON, SAID THE FOREIGN MINISTRY. A TOTAL OF 4,200 GERMANS HAVE FLED LEBANON TO ESCAPE ISRAELI AIR STRIKES AND FIGHTING BETWEEN ISRAELI FORCES AND HEZBOLLAH MILITANTS, THE STATEMENT SAID. ABOUT HALF OF THESE HAVE BEEN FLOWN HOME FROM DAMASCUS IN PLANES CHARTED BY THE GERMAN GOVERNMENT. A FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESWOMAN SAID BERLIN HAD NO RELIABLE ESTIMATE ON HOW MANY GERMANS WERE STILL REMAINED IN LEBANON.
