Punctually late CBK misses US Presidents
By Thalif Deen at the United Nations
President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga admitted that her requests to meet at least two US presidents at the White House arrived in Washington DC too late - not once, but twice.

"I wanted to pay a courtesy call, but I was told I had made the request too late in the day," she told reporters at the UN new conference.

She also said she made a similar request when she visited the United States about four years ago.The answer was the same.

She was told that the three to four weeks leeway was not sufficient enough time to arrange an appointment at the White House.

Although the president is known to be punctually late for her appointments, she arrived with clock work precision to address the General Assembly and also for a treaty signing ceremony.

At the news conference, she was in fact kept waiting for nearly 15 minutes because an earlier briefing by the Mexican President and Canadian Prime Minister ran overtime in the same press room.

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