Word: lesotho
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...sooner had cheering crowds welcomed Pope John Paul II to tiny Lesotho (pop. 1.6 million) last week than the cool night air erupted in explosions and flashes of light. But these were not fireworks welcoming the Pontiff. Blocks from the route the Pope's motorcade had taken through Maseru, the capital, South African commandos were storming a hijacked bus on which a band of antigovernment Lesotho guerrillas had been holding 71 Catholic pilgrims for 29 hours. When the gunfire ended, three of the four rebels lay dead. So did a 14-year-old girl, one of 31 children on board...
...tragedy came amid a week of turmoil -- and a few gestures of amity -- in strife-prone southern Africa, a region of guerrilla conflicts and racial hostilities. John Paul had arrived in Lesotho via a circuitous route. Bad weather forced his chartered Air Zimbabwe jet to veer from Maseru and land at Jan Smuts Airport in Johannesburg. The unscheduled stop was a public relations windfall for South Africa, which had been pointedly excluded from the Pope's five-nation tour. While John Paul did not kiss the ground at the airport, as is his custom on first visiting a country...
...ordered 100 lunches and several bottles of South African wine for the papal entourage and settled back to discuss the latest developments in southern Africa. While he and the Pope chatted, government officials hastily arranged for a motorcade to take the papal party on the 300-mile journey to Lesotho, a black-ruled kingdom entirely surrounded by South Africa. "We consider it a privilege to assist the Holy Father," said an obviously elated Botha. "We are known for our hospitality...
...pope was in Botswana yesterday and was expected in Lesotho today as part of a five-nation tour of southern Africa...
...Lesotho, a nation of about 1.6 million people about the size of Maryland, is officially a constitutional monarchy but is ruled by a six-man military council in consultation with King Moshoeshoe...