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Angelina Jolie refuses to comment on pregnancy rumours
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Angelina Jolie --- is visiting Iraq to help jump-start what she sees as a lagging effort to deal with the problems of "very very vulnerable" 2 million internally displaced people there, CNN reports. The actress rumored to be pregnant was asked about the baby rumors "I'm not here to answer that question," Jolie responded.
speaking in an exclusive interview with CNN's Arwa Damon. "There's lots of goodwill. Lots of discussion, but there seems to be a lot of talk at the moment, and a lot of pieces that need to be put together. I'm trying to figure out what they are." A goodwill ambassador for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, Jolie wants to find ways to help the agency be more active inside war-torn Iraq, where Sunni-Shiite sectarian violence has sparked a displacement crisis that is considered the most significant in the Middle East since the 1948 creation of Israel. More than 4.2 million Iraqis have fled their homes, around 2 million to neighboring states, mostly Syria and Jordan, and another 2.2 million displaced inside Iraq. "How Iraq settles in the years to come is going to affect the entire Middle East," said Jolie. "It's in our best interest to address a humanitarian crisis on this scale because displacement can lead to a lot of instability and aggression." Jolie has been working to help draw attention to the problem and has called for governments to bolster their support of the UNHCR. In August, Jolie first visited Iraq and Syria to get a sense of the problem. She heard stories from refugees and displaced people about their plight. This visit to Iraq is focusing on the problems of the internally displaced, 58 percent of whom are under age 12. A top issue for the agency is getting better security. Jolie is talking with U.S. officials, including top U.S. Gen. David Petraeus, about that issue, and are willing to provide such security which she said "needs to be addressed and solved." The Iraqi government needs to empower agencies that deal with migration to address the concerns of the displaced -- but that hasn't happened yet, she said. Jolie said it's crucial that the government prepare a plan to deal with refugees who return home from Syria and Jordan and find that their homes are "occupied" by others or "bombed out." She emphasizes the way in which these people are resettled will have "broad implications" in the region. Jolie also is talking to people about moving forward the U.S. effort to resettle Iraqi refugees in the United States, which has set a goal of taking in 12,000 of those people by September. Only 375 have been admitted so far. "I have to believe there are people working toward that goal," she said. |
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