Word: biafras
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There are two sets of pilots flying the Biafra run, one English-speaking and the other French, and they are carefully segregated. The English-speaking flyers are housed in the dilapidated, mosquito-ridden Hôtel de la Rèsidence, run by a waspish French brunette named Jackie, whose sole virtue seems to be that she is able to count in English. Eighteen of the pilots are Rhodesian and South African, all clad in the uniform of the British colonial in Africa: highly polished shoes, long socks, neatly pressed shorts and starched bush jackets. Carefully holding themselves apart...
...money," one sad, balding man told me. "I've got a wife and five kids and I want to put a down payment on a house in Salisbury." Another Rhodesian had a second motive: "That Harold Wilson is a bastard. He's against Biafra and he's buggering us too. This is a chance to bugger him." Everyone roared with laughter...
...three DC-3s and a single Constellation, parked on the palm-lined seaside tarmac. Patient research shows that the aircraft have varied registration-French, German, Belgian, Zambian, Biafran and Gabonese. Each afternoon, three or four planes taxi to the nearby military airfield for loading, then take off for Biafra at 6 p.m. sharp. They return around midnight, after the 900-mile round trip. Just as predictable as the flights is the black Citroen, owned by the French security police, that follows...
There are rumors that France may have decided to take over the entire mercenary show in Biafra. The Biafrans have expelled Colonel Rolf Steiner, the German ex-Legionnaire who had commanded their crack mercenary-led unit (TIME, Oct. 25). On arrival here in Gabon, Steiner refused to answer questions, but an aide admitted that the Steiner party had been escorted to the Biafran airport in handcuffs. The speculation is that Steiner was fired because the Biafran military had grown increasingly jealous of his privileged position with Colonel Odumegwu Ojukwu and had done their best to see that Steiner...
...French do not want publicity on their role in Biafra. But why are they so intent on keeping the war alive? A businessman here says the reason is Biafran oil: "A million barrels of oil a day, or about one-third the production capacity of Kuwait. That kind of oil production is worth gambling for, even if the odds are against you." In addition, Charles de Gaulle relishes any chance he finds to annoy the British, who are backing the Nigerian government. A third reason may well be that a united and progressing Nigeria would be a threat...