Showing posts with label diplomacy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label diplomacy. Show all posts
Monday, September 13, 2010
THE GUARDIAN: As a gay diplomat seeks US asylum, Saudi Arabia seems torn between wanting a civilised image and appeasing traditionalists
Saudi Arabia may be a miserable place to live, but it's not very often that a Saudi diplomat seeks refuge in the United States. The last time it happened was in 1994.
At the weekend, though, it emerged that Ali Ahmad Asseri, first secretary of the Saudi consulate in Los Angeles, has applied for asylum in the US on the grounds that he is gay. He says his employers have refused to renew his diplomatic passport – effectively terminating his job – after finding out about his sexuality. He adds they were also unhappy about his friendship with a Jewish woman.
The Saudis are reportedly demanding his return to the kingdom, where Asseri fears he would be killed "in broad daylight".
The conservative American Thinker website is rather excited about this and suggests it "will pose a real problem for the Obama administration, which loves to cozy up to (and bow before) Saudi power" – though I doubt that it will.
If American officials accept Asseri's story he is almost certain to be granted asylum. The Saudis may grumble a bit about that for the sake of appearances, but letting him stay in the US would spare them the embarrassing and potentially damaging question of what to do about him if he returned home.
Unless I'm very much mistaken, Asseri is the first Saudi ever to publicly declare himself gay. So, in a way, this is uncharted territory – but territory where the authorities in Riyadh would probably rather not go. If he went home they would either have to charge him or provide him with lifelong protection – and no matter which course they chose, it would anger someone. >>> Brian Whitaker | Monday, September 13, 2010
Related >>>
Sunday, September 12, 2010
THE TELEGRAPH: An Iranian diplomat in Finland claims he has defected after quitting his job in protest at the Islamic Republic’s treatment of its citizens.
Hossein Alizadeh said he had held the No. 2 post at the embassy in the Finnish capital Helsinki as deputy head of mission. He said he informed the embassy four days ago of his decision to quit after staying off the job for nearly a month.
“I don’t consider myself anymore a diplomat standing beside a brutal Iranian regime,” Mr Alizadeh said, declaring himself a “political dissident”. >>> | Saturday, September 11, 2010
MSNBC: Envoy says he fears persecution if he leaves the U.S. and returns home
A ranking Saudi diplomat told NBC News that he has asked for political asylum in the United States, saying he fears for his life if he is forced to return to his native country.
The diplomat, Ali Ahmad Asseri, the first secretary of the Saudi consulate in Los Angeles, has informed U.S. Department of Homeland Security officials that Saudi officials have refused to renew his diplomatic passport and effectively terminated his job after discovering he was gay and was close friends with a Jewish woman.
In a recent letter that he posted on a Saudi website, Asseri angrily criticized his country’s “backwardness” as well as the role of “militant imams” in Saudi society who have “defaced the tolerance of Islam.” Perhaps most provocatively of all, he has threatened to expose what he describes as politically embarrassing information about members of the Saudi royal family living in luxury in the U.S.
If he is forced to go back to Saudi Arabia — as Saudi officials are demanding — Asseri says he could face political persecution and even death. >>> Michael Isikoff, National investigative correspondent, NBC News | Saturday, September 11, 2010
HT: Marisol of Jihad Watch >>>
Comment here
Quote: “C'mon, homosexuality is as common as sand in the Islamic world!” – Kepha [Source: Jihad Watch]
Thursday, July 22, 2010
THE GUARDIAN: Cameron's drive for ambassadors in foreign outposts to focus on trade – and arms sales – gets a mixed reception
It's not exactly farewell to Ferrero Rocher, glittering receptions and the flashier parts of diplomatic life. But Britain's men and women in far-flung outposts are being ordered to work harder to promote trade, business and investment. Ethics may not be abandoned, but exports and contracts are now in, big time.
Taking its cue from David Cameron's wish to "refashion" Britain's external relations, the Foreign Office today confirmed the appointment of Simon Fraser, a top trade expert, as its permanent under-secretary – its senior civil servant. Colleagues described Fraser, 52, as a "platinum-level" technocrat whose experience in Paris, Brussels and in senior Whitehall jobs will help him galvanise his department into putting UK plc first.
It still seems unlikely, however, that any more than a handful of business people will be appointed as full-time ambassadors in the way that is common practice in the US.
William Hague, the foreign secretary, set out his stall in a speech in Tokyo last week, promising to "inject a new commercialism into the work of our foreign office and into the definition of … international objectives, ensuring that we develop the strong political relationships which will help British business to thrive overseas".
Hague followed this up with a speech to ambassadors at their annual conference and then with a message to every Foreign Office employee. These have clearly been noted. "Every submission and every brief for a visit now has to include the commercial interests," one senior official told the Guardian today. "The emphasis is new and genuine. It's being put into the bloodstream." >>> Ian Black and Richard Norton-Taylor | Thursday, July 22, 2010
Monday, June 28, 2010
THE INDEPENDENT: Staff from foreign embassies in Britain have escaped prosecution despite allegedly committing a range of offences including human trafficking, sexual assault, threats to kill and drinking and driving.
Foreign Secretary William Hague said that a number of diplomats were responsible for “serious offences” which could carry a prison sentence of one year or more, but had escaped charges because of diplomatic immunity. These included a Saudi Arabian national who allegedly carried out a sexual assault while another from his country was supposedly engaged in human trafficking, as was a diplomat from Sierra Leone. Both the sexual assault and trafficking cases involved domestic staff brought into the UK to work at homes of diplomats, it is believed.
A Pakistani diplomat allegedly made a threat to kill someone, a Nigerian could have faced charges of actual bodily harm and one from Cameroon allegedly neglected a young person - a member of his family. A Gambian diplomat was arrested for shoplifting after leaving a London department store with unpaid for items including pairs of socks, the man is believed to be a “repeat offender”.
Diplomats from Brazil, Germany, Russia, Tanzania, the US, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, Cameroon and the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) were stopped drinking and driving and one allegedly drunk Bahraini diplomat was driving uninsured. >>> Kim Sengupta, Defence Correspondent | Monday, June 28, 2010
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
TIMES ONLINE: The United States is to appoint a new ambassador to Syria after a gap of four years, the strongest sign yet of President Obama’s desire to re-engage the pariah state and draw it away from the influence of Iran.
The move to a fully staffed embassy will be an important boost to Syria, which has suffered years of diplomatic isolation because of its strong trade and strategic ties with Iran.
The US Administration hopes that engaging with Damascus will encourage it to further pursue peace talks with Israel, most recently held under the previous Israeli Government of Ehud Olmert.
George Mitchell, the US Middle East envoy, has described Syria as playing and [sic] “integral role” in the peace process. Syria has called for America to act as mediator in any future direct talks between it and Israel, in which it is demanding a return of the Golan Heights, a strategic border plateau captured by Israel in 1967.
Syria is still under US sanctions over its support of Islamist insurgents crossing into Iraq to fight the US-backed Government there. Washington withdrew its last ambassador in 2005 after the assassination of the former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri, in which Syria was believed to have played a role.
The new Administration believes that wooing Syria back into the diplomatic fold may encourage it to withdraw its support to insurgents in Iraq, loosen its ties with Iran and prevent the flow of weapons from Iran to Hezbollah, the Shia militia that operates as a state-within-a-state inside Lebanon. The US also hopes that forging ties with the Syrian Government may put pressure on the Hamas leadership in exile in Damascus. >>> James Hider, Middle East Correspondent | Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
TIMESONLINE: Hillary Clinton today vigorously defended President Obama’s recent overtures to Iran, insisting that the US would be in a better position to organise “crippling” international sanctions should diplomacy fail.
Giving her first congressional testimony on US foreign policy since becoming Secretary of State, Mrs Clinton said stopping Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon was one of the Obama administration’s highest priorities.
“We actually believe that by following the diplomatic path we are on, we gain credibility and influence with a number of nations who would have to participate in order to make the sanctions regime as tight and as crippling as we would want it to be,” Mrs Clinton told the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
“We know the imperative of preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons,” she added. “After years during which the United States basically sat on the sidelines, we are now a full partner” in international talks with Iran.
Iran said today that it welcomed “constructive” talks with world powers and the US, but added that it would press ahead with its programme to develop atomic energy. >>> Tim Reid in Washington | Wednesday, April 22, 2009
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