And from Russia...
sptimes.ru
Brain Tumor Keeps Liz From Visiting Chechnya
By Ian MacWilliam
STAFF WRITER
MOSCOW - Just before Chechnya's presidential election, an unlikely secret operative made a quiet visit to Grozny to prepare the ground for an even less likely visitor: Elizabeth Taylor.
The operative was Shahpari Khashoggi, the Iranian wife of Saudi Arabian financier Adnan Khashoggi. She is organizing a star-studded gala charity dinner and concert to be held in Istanbul later this month to benefit the children of Chechnya.
And until this week, Taylor, the quintessential Hollywood star, was to be the guest of honor at the event Feb. 27 - which is also Taylor's 65th birthday.
Khashoggi's plan is to bring the international jet set to the aid of Chechnya's war-stricken children, raising $1 million to fund a center in Grozny to provide shelter and medical help for children orphaned or wounded in the war.
Taylor is "a wonderful lady with a great concern for children," said Khashoggi earlier this week as she described the up-coming banquet. "She has donated her birthday to this occasion."
But Tuesday - just days after Taylor's involvement in the gala had been announced - Taylor's publicist issued a new statement: The actress had been diagnosed with a benign brain tumor.
The tumor will be surgically removed at an undisclosed location on Feb. 17, and Taylor is expected to "recover fully and without complications," her publicist said in a statement. With the surgery scheduled 10 days before her birthday, Taylor has had to bow out of her planned trips to Istanbul, Chechnya and Moscow.
Meanwhile, the Istanbul charity dinner must go on. Some 1,500 guests ranging from Hollywood stars and international entertainers to assorted royalty from around the globe are expected to attend, Khashoggi said in a telephone interview from her Paris residence.
Among others invited are pop singers Lionel Richie and Elton John, actresses Sharon Stone and Cher, together with unspecified "British, Middle Eastern, Far Eastern and Asian royalty," Khashoggi said.
The dinner, at $1,000 per plate, will be held in a former Ottoman palace on the Bosphorus. A concert with big-name performers, a fashion show and an auction of paintings and antiques will lighten the mood - and the pockets - of those attending.
"We're hoping to raise $1 million," Khashoggi said. "If we need more, we'll raise more with other events. We're concerned with war-stricken people who desperately need shelter."
Soon after the Istanbul gala, Taylor had planned to visit Moscow and Grozny. In Moscow, she was to be given honorary citizenship of the city.
In a letter she wrote accepting the invitation to Moscow, Taylor said she hoped to act as "an ambassadress of goodwill" as well as "to receive the honorary citizenship of [Moscow] on behalf of the Chechen children who are the innocent victims of war."
The planned children's center in Grozny will have 200 to 250 beds initially, Khashoggi said, though specialized wards would be added later. Although there would likely be some foreign involvement at first, it is chiefly to be run by local staff.
"The Chechens are a very capable people," Khashoggi said. "I saw that for myself."
She spent a week in Chechnya just before the republic's recent elections Jan. 27. Traveling incognito, she saw the site on the edge of Grozny that the Chechen government is providing for her charity to use for its children's center.
"I went out of my way to see the designated area with my own eyes so I could convince others," Khashoggi said.
The Istanbul gala is being organized through "Survive International Children's Appeal," a foundation Khashoggi established four years ago. |
