Angelina Jolie in Libya – Tunisia border to visit war refugees

Angelina Jolie Visits Refugees in Libya

Angelina Jolie visited refugees trapped along the border between Libya and Tunisia even as fierce fighting between Col. Moammar Gadhafi's forces and rebels continued.

Taking some time off from her busy family schedule, Angelina Jolie visited a border camp on Tuesday as part of her work as a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

In a statement, the 36-year old Hollywood celebrity called for the international community to send more aid for the refugees fleeing the ongoing conflict in Libya.

An estimated 400,000 refugees have poured into Tunisia, Libya's neighbor to the west. Tunisia is in itself not entirely stable since a popular revolt there ousted long-time ruler President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali just three months ago. That sparked a wave of change that has swept North Africa and the Middle East.

Online gossip sites reported that Angelina Jolie's visit caused a "near riot" but the U.N. denied the said reports.

According to the United Nations, the Jolie-Pitt Foundation which was created by Angelina Jolie and husband Brad Pitt, has also provided an "important donation" for refugees in Libya. The amount nor the details of the donation was not disclosed by U.N. officials.

Angelina Jolie praised Tunisia for assisting Libyan refugees this far.

"The outpouring of generosity from the Tunisian people says so much for the future of this country," she said. "The international community has done well to reinforce Tunisia's remarkable relief effort."

She called for more donations for the ongoing effort in Libya. "But with 2,000 people still crossing each day, we cannot let the funding dry up and need to sustain the momentum," Angelina Jolie added.

Posted by Kade Quinn on Wednesday April 06 2011, 1:25 AM EST. Ref: Mercury News. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Entertainment, Featured News. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0