Military planes evacuated 350 people to Cyprus on Sunday as Western countries stepped up efforts to evacuate their citizens from Lebanon amid continued Israeli bombardment.

The evacuees - including Spaniards, Italians, Austrians, Czechs and Irish - were flown to the Mediterranean island from Syria on Italian C-130 military transport planes, Cyprus` Foreign Ministry said. A Greek charter flight also brought in 140 passengers. They said it had taken 15 hours to drive from Beirut to Damascus, Syria, using lengthy routes to bypass bomb-damaged highways.

Two U.S. Marine Corps helicopters evacuated 21 Americans from Lebanon on Sunday, flying from the U.S. Embassy`s fortified grounds on a hilltop in a Beirut suburb, bound for Cyprus. U.S. security teams also landed to begin planning the evacuation of others.

The U.S. marine unit that conducted the initial evacuation said in a statement that it had sent more than 100 marines late Saturday to Cyprus to prepare for the operation. Two CH-53 Super Stallion heavy-lift helicopters lifted off from the British Royal Air Force Base at Akrotiri, Cyprus, just before 2 p.m. Sunday and landed about an hour later on the U.S. Embassy grounds in Beirut, according to a statement by the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, which has been in the area for an exercise with Jordanian forces.

The return flight of the CH-53s arrived in Cyprus at about 5 p.m. local time, the marines said.

Col. Ron Johnson, commander of the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, said his unit was ``setting the conditions`` for additional evacuation flights in the event the U.S. ambassador in Beirut makes such a request.

EU-member Cyprus has become a key transit point for evacuees from nearby Lebanon, following five days of air strikes by Israel in response to attacks by Hezbollah militants.

The government said it will provide port and airport facilities to help the evacuation. An Italian ship from Lebanon carrying 400 people was expected in Cyprus on Monday.

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