2006 A BUSY YEAR IN DIPLOMATIC CIRCLES
by Jennifer Campbell, Citizen Special
Ottawa Citizen, Canada
December 27, 2006 Wednesday
Final Edition
On the diplomatic scene, 2006 was a year for high-profile departures.
Toward summer, we learned New Zealand High Commissioner Graham
Kelly was heading home, and British High Commissioner David Reddaway
announced he was leaving. Diplomatically coy in the beginning, Mr.
Reddaway wouldn’t say where he was going, but eventually, his
government announced it was Ireland. Then, there was a flood of
departures of faces that had become well known: Irish Ambassador
Martin Burke returned to Dublin; EU Ambassador Eric Hayes returned
to Brussels; and Mexican Ambassador Maria Teresa Garcia de Madero
returned to Mexico.
Carlos Miranda, dean of the diplomatic corps, retired after 14
years, saying he’ll divide his time between Ottawa, where he has a
pied-a-terre, Quebec, where he has a cottage, and Costa Rica. His
departure made Mauricio Rosales Rivera, ambassador of El Savador,
the new dean.
A couple of embassies that had left their ambassadorial posts vacant
for more than a year filled the voids. German Ambassador Christian
Pauls left Ottawa in June 2005 and his replacement, Matthias Hopfner,
only arrived in September.
Meanwhile, Saudi Ambassador Mohammed Al-Hussaini, who had been here
for seven years, left in the summer of 2005 to take his country’s
top job in Turkey. His replacement, Abdulaziz Al-Sowayegh, presented
his credentials at Rideau Hall the same day as Mr. Hopfner. A few
days later, Mr. Al-Sowayegh hosted a lavish national day reception
that coincided with the long-awaited "coming out" of the recently
completed building on prime Sussex Drive real estate.
June saw the reopening of a high commission that had closed 10 years
earlier. Lesotho had always planned to reopen the mission it was
forced to close a decade ago for financial reasons.
"The closure of the mission in Ottawa was unfortunately misinterpreted
by some as a severance of diplomatic ties between Lesotho and Canada,
but quite the contrary was true," said Mots’eoa Senyane, the high
commissioner who reopened shop in a high commission on Clemow Avenue
in the Glebe. Ms. Senyane explained that her country’s representative
in Washington also looked after Canada from 1996 to 2006. Lesotho
had a mission in Ottawa for 20 years prior to closing in ’96.
The Conservative government’s foreign policy move most discussed by
diplomats was Canada’s commitment to Afghanistan. The prime minister’s
declaration last summer that Israel’s response to Hezbollah’s advances
was "measured" was also a topic of discussion, as was his early ban
on Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tigers (LTTE) in Canada and the declaration that
the LTTE is a terrorist organization.
An April decision to declare what the Turks refer to as "the
Armenian tragedy" a genocide garnered swift reaction from the Turkish
government which called its top envoy, Ambassador Aydemir Erman, for
consultations. This is not something the government does lightly,
explained counsellor Yonet Tezel at the time, but it should not be
considered as drastic as if an ambassador is officially recalled
(something the Chretien government did with its ambassador to Iran
during the Zahra Kazemi affair.)
Canada attracted several prominent world figures including Mexican
President (then president-elect) Felipe Calderon, Afghan President
Hamid Karzai and King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice came to Canada on Sept. 11
to be escorted around Nova Scotia by Foreign Affairs Minister Peter
MacKay.
One of this year’s biggest changes on the international scene was the
replacement of United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan. Mr. Annan
retires after 10 years, some of them tumultuous, on the job. By
tradition, it was Asia’s turn to take the helm, something the
continent hadn’t done in 35 years, and the lobbying on the part
of various candidates was strong. Canada didn’t take an official
position, but that didn’t stop Shashi Tharoor from making a visit to
drum up support. Mr. Tharoor had worked at the UN since 1978 and was
considered to be a credible candidate. Sri Lanka’s Jayantha Dhanapala,
a longtime diplomat and presidential adviser, also visited Ottawa
to explain his candidacy and seek support. Finally, Thai Foreign
Minister Kantathi Suphamongkhon was in town in September and asked
for Canada’s support for Thailand’s candidate, Deputy Prime Minister
Surakiat Sathirathai. In the end, though, it was Korea that ended up
with its candidate, Ban Ki-moon, in the top spot.
The UN took a beating in Ottawa last month with Jan Pronk, who was
Mr. Annan’s special representative in Sudan, criticizing the UN’s
inaction in Darfur. Mr. Pronk was in town with the United Nations
Association in Canada as part of a speaking tour he started after being
declared persona non grata by the government of Sudan. A week later,
Iraqi Ambassador Howar Ziad criticized Mr. Annan for saying Iraqis are
worse off since the U.S. invaded. "Instead of spearheading the Saddam
Nostalgia Club, we expect the UN secretary general to be constructive
and to contribute positive ideas to the democratic process in Iraq,"
Mr. Ziad said in a statement for the Citizen.
Stay tuned to see what the diplomats think of the new UN boss in 2007.
Jennifer Campbell is a freelance writer and editor in Ottawa.
Reach her at Diplomatica@sympatico.ca.
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Familiar Faces Go Home
On the diplomatic scene, 2006 was a year for high-profile departures,
including a flood of faces that had become well known. They included:
1. British High Commissioner David Reddaway left his posting in Ottawa
for one in Ireland.
2. Mexican Ambassador Maria Teresa Garcia de Madero, pictured with
former foreign affairs minister Pierre Pettigrew, returned to Mexico.
3. New Zealand High Commissioner Graham Kelly and his wife, Janette,
went home.
4. Irish Ambassador Martin Burke and his wife, Mary, returned to
Dublin.
5. Ambassador Carlos Miranda return to Costa Rica.
6. EU Ambassador Eric Hayes, with wife, Vibeke Grud, returned to
Brussels.
Foreign Policy Moves
Among the Conservative government’s most-discussed foreign policy
moves was the declaration that Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tigers is a terrorist
organization.
7. Foreign Affairs Peter MacKay, left, and Public Safety Minister
Stockwell Day talk to reporters about the decision.
Diplomatic Anger
8. Turkey quickly recalled Ambassador Aydemir Erman for consultations
after Canada declared "the Armenian tragedy" was genocide.
Iraqi Speaks Up
9. Iraqi Ambassador Howar Ziad, seen voting in his country’s landmark
elections, criticized Kofi Annan for saying Iraqis are worse off
since the U.S. invaded.
Back in Business
10. Lesotho reopened the mission in Ottawa that it had to close a
decade ago for financial reasons.