ALBANIA: American film star Michael Douglas visits Gramsh as a U.N. Messenger of peace to promote programme offering development programmes in exchange for voluntary weapons return

Record ID: 705666

  • Title: ALBANIA: American film star Michael Douglas visits Gramsh as a U.N. Messenger of peace to promote programme offering development programmes in exchange for voluntary weapons return
  • Date: 11th October 1999
  • Summary: GRAMSH CITIZENS DANCING DOUGLAS WAVES
  • Embargoed: 26th October 1999 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: GRAHSH, ALBANIA.
  • Country: Albania
  • Topics: International Relations,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA9G7T4052IRMDWSWT9N9B90QT
  • Story Text: Hollywood movie star Michael Douglas has visited Albania as the messenger of peace of U.N.secretary general Kofi Annan - to promote a programme offering development programmes in exchange for the voluntary return of weapons stolen during the anarchy of 1997.
    American movie star Michael Douglas has made a lot of headlines lately - his love life being the subject of renewed interest since he's been seen stepping out with British movie Catherine Zeta Jones.
    So he looked distinctly relaxed getting away from it all with a UN goodwill trip to Albania to watch weapons destruction there following the Kosovo conflict.
    Hollywood veteran Douglas, the son of actor Kirk, and Zeta-Jones, the Welsh beauty who shot to fame after her sizzling turn in last year's The Mark of Zorro, having been dating for a year now.
    But rumours of a forthcoming marriage have been put on hold - Douglas is STILL married to wife Diandra.
    "Before Michael can marry," Diandra told the London Times last month, "he has to divorce me - or become a Muslim so he can have two wives."
    Douglas's conversion to Zeta-Jones began last September, when they met at the American Film Festival in Deauville, France, where Douglas was promoting his thriller A Perfect Murder and Zeta-Jones was plugging Zorro.
    In Albania Douglas watched various automatic weapons being chopped up and - also donated telephone technology to help communications between distant villages and refugees.
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