|
Chuck's Family Seek Refuge in Gambia
Gambia is hosting the immediate family of Liberia's beleaguered president Charles Taylor, as his government's grip on Monrovia hangs precariously in the balance in the wake of the rebels' penetrating thrust towards the city centre. A West Coast chartered aircraft carrying Jewel Howard Taylor Liberia's first lady, her children, and other Liberian refugees touched down at 10 pm on Sunday at the Banjul International Airport as observers begin to ponder over the beginning of the end of Taylor's rule in West Africa's oldest republic. 135 people were on board the aircraft. The airport terminal was a fleeting flurry of activities as security chiefs converged there to meet Mrs. Taylor and her entourage, which also included Gambian returnees and other refugees fleeing the humanitarian crisis in Monrovia, where recent days have witnessed a protracted military stalemate as rebel advance to capture the whole city had been halted by Taylor's ragtag army dug in and around the city centre. Jewel Taylor who is a trained economist and had worked in various international institutions had always defended the integrity of her embattled husband who faces an international travel ban and an indictment for his widely publicised support for rebels in neighbouring Sierra Leone. It is not clear whether the Liberian first lady and her entourage are using The Gambia as a safe haven or a transit point as they sought refuge outside war-ravaged Liberia. Mrs. Taylor was whisked off to the VIP lounge of the airport, looking calm and serene despite the dreary report that her husband was being hemmed in by the rebel advance. Jewel who is President Taylor's third wife is being reportedly accommodated at the Paradise Inn along the Senegambia highway.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt 2003-08-02 |
|
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=17188 |