Clinton Africa Trip Again Hits Turbulence

By Anne E. Kornblut
KIGALI, Rwanda -- A plane carrying former president Bill Clinton throughout Africa had to make an emergency landing after having engine trouble on the way to Rwanda on Friday -- the latest in a series of transportation woes on the Clinton trip.

Clinton, who is on a four-country tour visiting sites where his foundation works, had to leave his chartered 767 charter after it had problems following takeoff from Ethiopia. A second plane, a 707, carrying members of his delegation and reporters then turned back around and picked up the former president, his daughter, Chelsea, and others on the trip.

The mishap came after a protracted delay on the backup plane earlier in the week. The traveling press and delegation members spent more than two days in Newark as problem after problem (six in all, including a cracked windshield and a fire) befell the 727 that was originally supposed to transport them. Numerous travelers dropped off the trip before it even began.

Over the weekend, Clinton is scheduled to travel from Rwanda to Liberia and then on to Senegal -- the planes permitting.