Visitors now: 11
Assault at British Embassy
A by-product of research for the previous entry: After a well-attended February 11, 1964 concert at the Washington, DC Coliseum where almost 8,000 admirers out-shouted the Beatles, the British Embassy received the group on Massachusetts Avenue. There, a large lock was cut off from Ringo Starr's hair which prompted an apology from the Ambassador's wife:
I really am terribly sorry about the scene in the ballroom. The Beatles Ultimate Experience recalls Ringo's comment: These diplomats just don't know how to behave. Fourty years later, the number would likely be 80,000 and the lost hair would prompt a lawsuit. -- Clemens Kochinke, Berliner, Corcoran & Rowe, LLP, Washington.
Fri, / / Embassy Law Link
British Council non grata
Expulsions by declaring a diplomat persona non grata occur quite infrequently. As discussed here
before, other means exist to make an undesired official leave, and the official declaration is sometimes considered a measure of last resort. As such, it can invite tit-for-tat reprisals.
Currently, the British cultural institution, British Council--also prominently listed on the British Embassy's web site in Washington, DC--finds itself the target of retaliation in Russia. 20 Russians would lose their positions with the organization, the Guardian reports on December 13, 2007 in Russia Orders British Council Offices to be Shut Down.
Russia claims that the council operated illegally and violated tax laws as well as the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations of 1963, the paper continues. In Washington, numerous cultural and scientific organizations operate and complement traditional activities of embassies. Many lack the accreditation of diplomats but may utilize A-2 visas and are subject to the tax laws in the United States, including those of localities.
The alleged violation of the convention relates to the operation of the British Council out of British consulates, Russian foreign ministry spokesman Mikhail Kamynin reportedly explained. Russia's foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, admitted that the closing was ordered in response to Britain's expulsion of Russian diplomats last July. On December 14, 2007, the Times of Malta reports that Russia called the British response to the closings provocative.-- Clemens Kochinke, Berliner, Corcoran & Rowe, LLP, Washington.
Fri, / / Embassy Law Link
