Remebering An Icon
A close friend of the late George Odlum has been speaking of the late political firebrand, five years after his death at the age of 69.
Businessman Newman Monrose was one of several persons accused by then Prime Minister John Compton in 1983 of conspiring with Odlum to send a group of St Lucians to Libya for training in terrorism and sabotage.
The aim, Compton said, was for the trainees to violently overthrow his government upon their return.
The Prime Minister and his Attorney General Leonard Riviere claimed that Monrose was using his position as an airline manager to facilitate the group's travel and there was talk of banning his access to restricted areas of the island's airports.
The allegations were never proven, and Monrose's employer, the now defunct Eastern Airlines, stood firmly by their manager and refused to fire him.
Monrose was a guest earlier this week at Radio St Lucia on The Agenda hosted by David Samuels. He remembered fondly the man to whom he'd remained close through thick and thin.
George Odlum died on September 28th after a long battle with Pancreatic Cancer. Monrose believes his friend was greatly misunderstood, especially where political ambitions were concerned.