Diplomatic Gifts Worth Hundreds Of Thousand Dollars - What happens to the gifts diplomats are showered with when they travel overseas? |
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You are here: DIME Home > Blogging > Diplomatic Gifts Worth Hundreds Of Thousand Dollars
What happens to the gifts diplomats are showered with when they travel overseas?
Author: Lyn Thomas
Date: Jul 10, 2009 - 12:10:58 AM
We all know officials in high places get pretty good salaries, but what about the gifts they also receive from foreign governments? Gifts that spend their life hidden in ‘Archives Foreign’. The 1998 list reads as if Archives Foreign are like Harrods the day before Christmas.
Libya's Moamar Qaddafi topped the list of generous gift-givers, when the former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice visited Tripoli last year. Qaddafi showered Rice with gifts to the value of $212,225, including a diamond ring and a locket with his picture inside. This is according to a newly-released State Department report.
Officials are required by law, to hand over such gifts to the U.S. government.
Following is Just a small sample of the official gifts that were received with the excuse that 'non-acceptance would cause embarrassment to donor and U.S. Government'.
MTB Hard tail special edition mountain bike
uSqueeze Calf and foot massager
Zen Mp3 player
Taxidermied lion and leopard
A zebra skin
Gold sabre with diamonds and rubies – foreign archives
A navy suede robe with gold trim and mink lining
Gold necklace
Black Mercedes mountain bike
24” gold Collar of State chain
2 Tan leather saddles
49 piece white china set
Pair of leather boots
Painted leather saddle
Pair of black Zandstra rollerblades with bel reflector, wrist guards and knee and elbow pads
Fuete OpusX cigars (location – handled pursuant to Secret Service policy)
Ceska Zbrojovka CS550 shotgun and wooden gun rack
Bottle of Kutjevo wine (location – handled pursuant to Secret Service policy)
Gold plated SMG PK Caliber 9mm gun
Gold necklace with emeralds, diamonds and rubies
Thirty eight boxes of assorted Godiva chocolates (location – handled pursuant to Secret Service policy)
The list of gifts included numerous watches, diamond bracelets and earrings, paintings and items of clothing and many other items. Many were transferred to 'General Services Administration', meaning they are being used officially somewhere.
Several members of the White House staff received similar gifts, which were also transferred to 'General Services Administration'. These included items like swords, carpets, gold and silver tea cups. Children's books, stuffed toys and children's shirts. Caviar, cognac and pomegranates and 12 lb of Arabian dates were handled pursuant to US Secret Service policy.
The list says nothing of the accommodation, round trip air tickets etc., provided by host countries.
The list rolls into hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of items. And this was just the Bush administration in 2008!
So what about all the other years and other presidents and governments around the globe, including royalty? The question remains: How massive are the Archives Foreign and are they constantly expanding, or do officials have an 'auction' from time to time? Are there buildings tucked away that are full of treasure and larger than several football fields? Who has the control of this uncountable wealth, or do the 'Archives Foreign' have revolving doors?
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