A mass evacuation of foreign nationals fleeing Israeli bombing of Lebanon began winding down yesterday as the latest of around 30,000 people to leave reached Cyprus and Turkey.

Britain and the United States said they were scaling back their evacuations after 15 ships brought more exhausted evacuees to the Mediterranean island in one of its busiest nights since Israel air strikes on Lebanon.

Several hundred Australians and Canadians also arrived at the Turkish port of Mersin, after Turkey stepped in to share the burden with Cyprus, which is struggling to cope with the influx in the middle of its tourist season.

?When they bombed the airport we heard it as though it was next door and we saw the clouds come up. We have two babies, so it was impossible to stay there,? said middle-aged Canadian Robert Daudelin from Montreal, after arriving at Mersin.

?Leaving Beirut was much tougher because families including ours were being split and people were crying, people weren?t sure if it was the right move to leave?, Daudelin said.

US officials said over 12,000 Americans had now left Lebanon and another 1,000 were expected to leave yesterday, as numbers of those lining up to leave dwindled.

?The US embassy believes that most American citizens who wished to depart Lebanon with US government assistance have already departed?, the embassy in Beirut said in a statement.

Authorities in Cyprus, which has received most evacuees, have warned tens of thousands more may come if the violence in Lebanon escalates.

About 5,000 Americans were being hosted on the island, awaiting flights home. An estimated 5,000 British evacuees passing through the British air force base at Akrotiri in southern Cyprus were swiftly processed and flown home. Britain said it was wrapping up evacuations by boat on Sunday.

<B>Thousands left behind </B>

More than 1,000 Canadians walked ashore to safety in Cyprus yesterday, some saying many more people in Lebanon were trying to get out.

?There are thousands of people still waiting over there (to escape). It is very crowded?, said Hussein Kalas, 16, a Canadian Lebanese from Ottawa.

His sister, Ghinwa, 19, described the horror of living in Beirut during the Israeli bombardment, now into its 13th day.

?They are killing children, they are raining bombs on our houses. They?re the terrorists, not us?, she said.

Israel launched its bombardment of Lebanon on July 12 after Hizbollah guerrillas captured two Israeli soldiers and killed eight others. The fighting has killed 369 people in Lebanon, the vast majority civilians, and 37 Israelis. Evacuees expressed their relief at escaping from Lebanon.

?We really appreciate what the Canadian government has done for us (in chartering boats to get us out)?, said Johnny Aboudhi of Montreal, who was accompanied by his wife and two children.

Australia said it expected to take 6,000 or more of its 20,000 citizens out of Lebanon this week, in what its ambassador to Ankara described as ?the biggest Australian evacuation since the Second World War?.

Visiting evacuees in Larnaca on Sunday, France?s Defence Minister Michele Alliot-Marie said France would keep its operations in Cyprus in place to help pass humanitarian aid to Lebanon. UN officials have said they will establish an aid staging point in Cyprus

<B>Michael WINFREY

Michele KAMBAS </B>