Word: diplomatic
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...Vatican diplomat said the original copies of all correspondence to the Pope - and a photocopy of the responses - are duly sent to the Holy See archives. Such missives are divided among those of a personal nature from ordinary faithful that are kept in the Pope's personal archives and those of a public or political nature that go into the Vatican's "general" archive. After a certain period of time following a Pope's death, scholars may eventually be given access to the correspondence. The Pope would never reveal the contents of the private correspondence he receives, the Ambassador told...
...former Foreign Minister, were tied, with about 40% each. But few of those votes came from Karzai's Pashtun strongholds in the south, where turnout was light - owing to Taliban threats - but heavily managed. "It's not exactly one man, one vote out in the rural areas," a Western diplomat told me. "The tribal leader gathers everyone together and says, 'We're voting for Candidate X.'" In some cases, apparently, tribal leaders have simply stamped all the ballots themselves; with literacy rates running at less than 10% in many rural areas, that's not considered fraud but business as usual...
...enough time to prevent her from meddling in a 2010 election that the military hopes will legitimize its grip on power; it's also enough time to dream up more excuses to detain her, as the junta has done for nearly 14 of the past 20 years. A British diplomat who attended the trial described her demeanor in court as "calm, dignified [and] upright, exuding quiet authority but no hint of bitterness towards the prosecution." She retreats into isolation once again, leaving one question unanswered. If Than Shwe and his men are ever brought to trial, how calm and dignified...
That display of force will likely reinforce the emerging consensus in the West that no credible Israeli-Palestinian peace process is possible without the consent of Hamas. Indeed, one European diplomat in the region told TIME that U.S. officials were pleased by the Hamas action in Rafah. The action "benefited Hamas because it allowed them to show that they're capable of enforcing their authority and order, in Gaza, and also to distinguish themselves from the radical jihadists," says Rabbani. "This shows not only that Hamas is different from al-Qaeda, but that the two are actually violently at odds...
...appears Syria is ready to return Sarkozy's favors. "Although the Americans have been slowly reaching out to Syria - especially since Barack Obama's election - Assad is aware Sarkozy was the first Western leader to truly see him as an ally and even a friend," says a French diplomat who asked not to be named. Sarkozy's trust, he adds, was especially appreciated by Damascus given the hatred former French President Jacques Chirac reserved for Assad - whom he blamed for the 2005 assassination of Lebanese Prime Minister and Chirac intimate Rafiq Hariri. "There's some genuine gratitude at work right...