HOLLYWOOD'S JOLIE BACK IN CAMBODIA
Copyright 2001 www.reuters.com

[ November 7th 2001 ]

Former Oscar-winner Angelina Jolie, star of last summer's blockbuster Lara Croft Tomb Raider, was back in Cambodia on Wednesday, visiting as goodwill ambassador for the United Nations refugees agency.

Jolie and actor-director husband Billy Bob Thornton arrived on a week-long visit to Cambodia which will take them to U.N. projects with returned refugees on the Thai-Cambodia border. "I just love this country so much," Jolie told Reuters before boarding a plane for northern Siem Reap province, where scenes for "Tomb Raider" were shot last year at the jungle clad 9-13th century Angkor Wat temples.

Jolie, daughter of Oscar-winning actor Jon Voight, said she fell in love with the war-ravaged southeast Asian country while filming at the temple complex. Jolie and Thornton were scheduled to travel with the U.N. refugee agency to the northern town of Battambang on Thursday then to Samlot on the Thai border.

Thousands of refugees were resettled by the UNHCR in Samlot - formerly a rebel zone ruled by the brutal communist Khmer Rouge - after peace finally settled on Cambodia in 1998. "We want to just help preserve the traditions and culture and be a part of helping Cambodia rebuild itself," Jolie said.