Hot air without cold facts

The Sri Lanka Embassy in Washington goofed -- and goofed badly -- when it put out a statement last week about the government protesting an unauthorized meeting between the LTTE and Iceland diplomat Bjami Vestmann, who was described as a Minister Counsellor of the Foreign Ministry of Iceland.

The statement said that government had "protested the action of Mr Vestmann and requested his immediate recall." How can Mr. Vestmann be "recalled" when he is not a diplomat based in Colombo?

How can such blatant ignorance pass several layers of foreign service officers and end up as an official statement of the Sri Lanka Embassy/Foreign Ministry?