Jeter Livingston stayed in Ivory Coast long after a military coup and ethnic riots shattered the country’s image as a haven of peace in turbulent West Africa. But the 53-year-old American missionary joined thousands of other Westerners leaving the country recently when mobs of government loyalists attacked westerners in a burst of rage over a French-brokered accord to end a months-long rebel insurgency. “It’s awful. Most of us have been here so long,” Livingston said at the Abidjan airport, as he and other missionaries waited for a plane out. “This was the example for West Africa, but now it’s all falling apart. It’s ripping my heart out.” Closing doors behind the fleeing westerners are foreign-run schools, relief organizations, factories, financial institutions and shipping companies that have long favored this nation, once known as West Africa’s economic powerhouse. Full Story
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