Royal Wedding: Syrian Ambassador's Invitation Withdrawn

[Hissyspit]

Source: BBC

28 April 2011 Last updated at 06:19 ET

The Syrian ambassador's invitation to Friday's royal wedding has been withdrawn after officials said it was "inappropriate" for him to attend.

The decision to invite Dr Sami Khiyami had been criticised, amid condemnation of a violent crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in the country.

Dr Khiyami had been summoned to the Foreign Office over the situation.

The Foreign Office said his presence would be "unacceptable" and that Buckingham Palace "shared that view".

More than 400 people are reported to have been killed in the past month as the Syrian authorities have cracked down on anti-government protests across the country.

Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-13223428

[dipsydoodle]

1. Well at least

that should stop the whining about Blair and Brown not being invited.

[CottonBear]

4. Blair & Brown are not Knights of the Garter (KG) and the other former PMs are.

Only the former PMs who are KGs were invited.

[dipsydoodle]

5. I know

but I bet Cherie is gutted anyway.



Old bat. :rofl:

[CottonBear]

6. Ha!

I didn't first check your profile to see that you are from England!

I just had a good friend from university visit me here in GA, USA over the past weekend. She now lives in London with her English husband. He is an avid birder. I think I'll send him a link to this article posted on DU: Exotic Birds Fly into Wales http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2011/04/28/exotic-birds-fly-into-wales-91466-28595925/

[pampango]

2. BBC: Royal wedding: Syrian ambassador's invitation withdrawn

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-13223428

The Syrian ambassador's invitation to Friday's royal wedding has been withdrawn.

The decision to invite Dr Sami Khiyami had been criticised, amid condemnation of a violent crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in the country.

Dr Khiyami was summoned to the Foreign Office on Tuesday and told that the violence was "completely unacceptable".

The Foreign Office confirmed on Thursday that he would not be attending the event.

[harmonicon]

3. Does the irony hurt anyone else's brain?

THESE ARE FUCKING ROYALS!! I know they don't exactly have absolute rule or anything, but these bastards still pay no taxes and are the largest property owners in the UK. For them to pass judgement on anyone is a fucking laugh.

[dipsydoodle]

7. You should checks your facts on the subject of tax.

.

[joshcryer]

8. Looks like they do enjoy some loopholes and exceptions for themselves.

I find it quaint that they basically got offshore wind simply for being born in a certain family.

[dipsydoodle]

10. They pay at least £220 million a year in tax.

.

[No Elephants]

12. "It's good to be the king." Mel Brooks.

[Turborama]

9. Good

Shame on them for taking so long to rescind the invite, though.

[No Elephants]

11. So...no one knew the deal in Syria when they invited the Syrian Ambassador?

Nothing like inviting the wrong person, then publicly humiliating him simply because YOU invited him imprudently and he accepted your invitation, which his job obligates him to do anyway.

Talk about lose lose. Should do wonders for diplomacy.


Also not understanding protocol, reasoning, etc.

Supposedly, the Obamas were not invited, even only to the church, because Wills is a few steps away from the throne. Therefore, this wedding is not a state wedding. Therefore, Wills and Kate get to invite people who mean something to them.

Are we to infer that Wills has some kind of personal relationship with the Syrian ambassador?

In any case, I'd invite the Obamas over the Syrian ambassador any day.

[harmonicon]

13. The US ambassador was probably invited.

The BBC interviewed the Syrian guy today, and he said that he didn't really care, but was bothered that it was a stupid and embarrassing situation, even though it's the kind of invitation he'd usually ignore if it weren't so high profile. The bbc made it out that all ambassadors were likely invited, but I don't know. I simply don't really care. Could you imagine feeling like you had to invite strangers to your wedding? I think it would be strange enough to even know that strangers know about your wedding.

[muriel_volestrangler]

16. The invitations went out to all amabssadors, probably months ago

And a few months ago, the Syrian ambassador wouldn't have been considered the worst - that might have been Zimbabwe, or North Korea, who are both still coming.

No - no personal relationship at all. Every single ambasaddor in London was invited. You might say that was imprudent; but if relationships with a country are so bad, then diplomatic relationships should have been broken of already anyway.

[Alamuti Lotus]

14. Yet, Bahrain's ambassador is still welcome

current ambassador to the UK Sheikh Khalifa Bin Ali al-Khalifa used to head their "National Security Agency"--the head of kidnapping and torture.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/apr/28/bahraini-linked-to-torture-royal-wedding
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2011/04/torturers-are-invited.html

[Jefferson23]

15. Thanks for confirming. Nice selection of schmucks still attending...I

wonder if they're all seated at the same table.

[Alamuti Lotus]

17. I already thought the royal wedding nonsense should be carpet bombed on principled

At least it is now known that, were that to occur, there would be no innocent victims to speak of between the bonafide goons like the Khalifas, the English royals themselves, and various paparazoid vermin..

[brooklynite]

18. Does that mean...

...he doesn't have to send a gift?