CAA: GA News, "African leader's arrival rare break in Van Nuys airport secrecy"

["Stephen Irwin" <Stephen.Irwin@pmail.net>]

Wednesday, May 31, 2000

African leader's arrival rare break in airport secrecy
By Jesse Hiestand, Staff Writer
Los Angeles (CA) Daily News


VAN NUYS -- The arrival Tuesday of an African president at Van Nuys Airport
was unusual only in one regard: It was announced publicly.

Dignitaries like Central African Republic President Ange-Felix Patasse
regularly use the airport because its privacy and security allows them to
whisk in and out of Los Angeles discretely, airport officials said.
Politicians, both foreign and domestic, including some heads of state join a
long list of celebrities, executives and high rollers who make Van Nuys
Airport a hub for VIPs.

"There's many times we don't even know -- they just slip off the airplane
and into the car and there's no knowledge on our part of who's on board,"
said Ken Curry, vice president and general manager of Petersen Aviation, one
of the leading charter services.

Since security is the name of the game, Curry can't reveal his clients but
says his company has hosted flights by heads of state from England and
countries in the Mediterranean region.

"It's a lot less rare than you'd think," Curry said. "That's one of the
reasons why they use private business jets -- to travel in and out without
any great fanfare and a great deal of security."

In most cases, airport staff are also unaware of the newsmakers on their
tarmac.

"Unless the Secret Service warns us, we don't get involved and won't know
who's here," said airport spokeswoman Stacy Geere.

President Clinton once used Van Nuys Airport when he was president-elect and
again when in office, arriving via the Marine One helicopter, Geere said. In
Patasse's case, the arrival was heralded by a public relations agency eager
to promote his five-day visit to the Southland, where he hopes to find
investors to develop his country's riches of oil, diamonds and timber.

The democratically elected president plans to tour medical and educational
institutions, including Valley College on Thursday.

A luncheon sponsored by the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce will be
held in his honor today.

Patasse touched down at Van Nuys Airport about 6:15 p.m. on a chartered
Gulfstream II from New York. He was greeted by embassy and political
representatives as well as numerous Secret Service agents and a California
Highway Patrol escort.

"We have brought the sun from Central Africa but we see you already have
your own, so we'll exchange the warmth of our sun for yours," Patasse said.

The Central African Republic, covering an area about twice the size of New
Mexico, is a former French colony that finally realized its independence in
1960. A series of brutal regimes and coups followed. In 1991 the country
became a multiparty state and two years later Patasse, then prime minister,
was elected president.

There were three military mutinies in 1996 and 1997, including one crushed
with the help of French soldiers.

Last year, the U.S. State Department warned citizens not to travel to the
country, citing the high level of crime and highway banditry outside the
capital of Bangui.


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