LIBERIA: U.S. MARINES EVACUATE TWO GIRLS WITH U.S. CITIZENSHIP FROM REBEL-HELD AREA OF MONROVIA.

Record ID: 647344

  • Title: LIBERIA: U.S. MARINES EVACUATE TWO GIRLS WITH U.S. CITIZENSHIP FROM REBEL-HELD AREA OF MONROVIA.
  • Date: 9th August 2003
  • Summary: (W1) MONROVIA, LIBERIA (AUGUST 8, 2003) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. GV: SEVEN YEAR-OLD SHADIA MONGER AND GRAND AUNT RUTH PANAPH WALKING DOWN STAIRS 0.08 2. GV/MV: SHADIA AND AUNT PANAPH WALKING AROUND STATUE OF JESUS CHRIST; SHADIA AND PANAPH STANDING (3 SHOTS) 0.24 3. MCU: (SOUNDBITE) (English) SHADIA'S GRAND AUNT RUTH PANAPH SAYING: "She came in 1997 when she was a baby." 0.33 4. MCU: (SOUNDBITE) (English) SHADIA MONGER ASKED IF SHE WANTS TO GO TO AMERICA OR STAY IN LIBERIA, SAYING: "I want to stay here." QUESTION: DO YOU LIKE IT HERE? ANSWER: "Yes." QUESTION: ARE YOU NOT AFRAID BECAUSE OF THE WAR? ANSWER: "Yes." PAN TO SHADIA'S GRAND AUNT RUTH PANAPH SAYING: "Yes we've been here all through the war. And Jesus has been taking care of us." 1.04 5. GV/MV/TRACK: MARINES AND U.S. EMBASSY STAFF GOING TO FAITH HEALING TEMPLE OF JESUS CHRIST TO TAKE SHADIA AND SISTER 17 YEAR-OLD PRINCESS SONNIE TO U.S. EMBASSY; MARINES AND EMBASSY STAFF WALKING INTO TEMPLE (3 SHOTS) 1.34 6. MV/GV: STAFF MEMBER TALKING TO GRAND AUNT PANAPH; STATUE OF JESUS CHRIST; PEACEKEEPERS; STAFF MEMBER (4 SHOTS) 7. MV/CU: SHADIA SAYING GOODBYE TO UNCLE EDWIN HOFF; CLOSE UP OF SHADIA; TEMPLE MEMBER; SHADIA BEING LED AWAY FROM TEMPLE TO CAR (5 SHOTS) 2.45 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 24th August 2003 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: MONROVIA, LIBERIA
  • Country: Liberia
  • Reuters ID: LVA70U2WMHF5Y4UN3S4Z2DAC67UI
  • Story Text: U.S. Marines whisked two girls with American
    citizenship from a rebel-held area of Liberia's capital on
    Friday during a flying visit to the war-battered suburbs.



    Led by marines and U.S. embassy staff on Friday
    (August 8), seven-year-old Shadia Monger wept as she
    climbed into an air-conditioned jeep, waving to the grand
    aunt who has looked after her since 1997.

    Shadia and her sister, Princess Sonnie, 17, were then
    rushed to the embassy in the hilly Mamba Point district of
    Monrovia, away from the rebel-held port area where
    gun-toting fighters rule and corpses still lie decomposing
    on the paths.

    But for Shadia, the evacuation was bitter sweet. Sent
    to Liberia to see her family when she was a baby in 1997,
    she has lived here ever since and considers Monrovia her
    home.

    When asked if she was American, she seemed unsure
    before the marines arrived at the Faith Healing Temple of
    Jesus Christ where she and her sister sheltered while
    battles between rebels and government troops raged outside
    "I want to stay here," she added defiantly, sporting a
    blue baseball cap, white T-shirt and grey skirt.

    A few hours after the interview, dressed in a pretty
    white dress and holding her sister's hand, Shadia left the
    temple for the embassy.

    They will stay at the embassy until arrangements are
    made to reunite them with their parents in the United
    States -- and live the dream so many people in this broken
    country founded by freed American slaves pray for.

    Most U.S. civilians had already been evacuated from
    Monrovia, with many flown to an offshore ship and taken to
    Abidjan in neighbouring Ivory Coast.

    It was not clear why the girls were left behind --
    possibly it was not known they were in a rebel-held area.

    Going to the United States is the goal of thousands of
    Liberians, desperate for peace of mind and prosperity after
    nearly 14 years of brutal civil war which has left more
    than 200,000 people dead and shattered the lives of so many
    more.

    "She was sent here from America, she came in 1997 when
    she was a baby," Shadia's grand aunt Ruth Panaph, who is
    treasurer of the church, told Reuters. "She wants to stay,
    very much so."
    Embassy officials did not disclose where the girls were
    from in the United States.

    "We been here all throughout, and Jesus been taking
    care of us," said Panaph, sitting next to Shadia in front
    of the altar.

    The girls prayed with embassy staff before an emotional
    parting in the dusty, pot-holed street outside, where armed
    Marines and Nigerian peacekeeping troops kept a watchful
    eye.

    Distraught Panaph broke down as the two girls left in
    the convoy of American pickups after saying their goodbyes
    to uncle Edwin Hoff.



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