TABLE Gen eva, Wednesday.
SOPHIA LOREN arrived in a brown Rolls-Royce and matching fur coat
today to sign up for what could be the toughest role of her career -- as
a ''goodwill ambassador'' for the world's refugees.
The 58-year-old Italian actress turned all heads as she arrived to
sign her contract at the lakeside headquarters of the United Nations'
High Commissioner for Refugees.
She smiled through a long photo session to make an eloquent pledge of
her commitment to the world's 40 million refugees and displaced people.
Miss Loren said she was moved to action a year ago by a newspaper
picture of a starving Somali child trying to manage a smile.
''That was the moment that I decided I must do something,'' she told
UN staff.
''That Somali child is probably no longer alive, his poor smile was
probably the last sign of an extinguished life. But we must keep his
spirit alive in us forever.''
Miss Loren was welcomed to her new job by High Commissioner Sadako
Ogata.
Miss Loren's first mission, from Saturday, will be to Somalia, where
civil war has forced a million people to flee the country.
When a Swiss journalist asked if she would be taking her Rolls-Royce
with her, Miss Loren, to loud applause from UN staff, retorted: ''When
someone asks a question like this I don't know why you should be in this
place. This is something very serious.''
Meanwhile, the 2500 Somali refugees crammed on the small freighter
Samaa-1 arrived in Aden today after a harrowing week-long voyage without
food or water.
Looking frail, they headed for an emergency camp to be checked for
disease and malnutrition. The UNHCR's initial reports said there were no
deaths on board.
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