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Human Shield Buses Stuck in Beirut, Seek Fare Home
Put down your coffee...BEIRUT (Reuters) - Two red double decker buses and a white London taxi that ferried anti-war activists to Baghdad to serve as "human shields" are stranded in Beirut with their owner short of the $5,500 it costs to ship them home. You didn't really think this all through, did you? (snicker) "The buses have to be shipped back. It's just not practical to drive them... I am not even really sure how much money I've got, but I'm sure it's not enough," said owner Joe Letts, adding that he would fly to London on Thursday to try to raise cash. "I thought I would let people know it's a problem," he added, sitting in a makeshift kitchen on his bus in central Beirut. "I'm broke. Please give me money" Letts said about 200 human shields, including many who traveled on his bus, remained in Baghdad when he left. But he said that although he stayed on as a shield for a week, he had no intention of staying in Baghdad for the duration of a war. "I own these buses and they are my livelihood and my family's livelihood. And all along I was there really to take the people down and then come back," he said. Now that's some real dedication to the cause. "I had promised my wife I would get the buses home," he said. "If I don't get them home, we're absolutely stuck." If his wife is like my wife she'll be filing for divorce within the week. Posted by: Scooter McGruder 2003-03-05 |
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