Word: straub
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...Ghost Story, Straub...
...Ghost Story, Straub...
...Ghost Story, Straub...
Britain's Ambassador to The Netherlands, Sir Richard Sykes, 58, had just stepped into his silver-gray Rolls-Royce for the four-minute ride from his residence to the British embassy in The Hague. As Sykes' Dutch valet, Karel Straub, 19, closed the car door, two men suddenly emerged from the back of the courtyard. One fired a revolver through the rear side window of the limousine, hitting Sykes four times; the other gunman shot Straub twice at close range. Sykes and Straub died later in the hospital...
Sykes' assassination, coming just a month after U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan Adolph Dubs was kidnaped and murdered by Muslim extremists, underscored the grim reality that diplomats have become prime targets for terrorists. By and large, security measures to protect the ambassadors are often surprisingly lax. Straub's parents said their son had told them of repeated bomb threats against the ambassadorial residence. Yet the ambassador had no bodyguard, the limousine was not equipped with bulletproof windows, and his residence was unguarded. Sykes' apparent disregard for his own safety seemed all the more astonishing since he had recommended...