08/10/2011

Why was Tzipi Livni's visit to the UK accorded privileged status?

"Last month, on the day that changes in universal jurisdiction law went into effect, Israel's former Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said she "received a phone call" from UK Ambassador to Israel Matthew Gould telling her "there is no longer a warrant for my arrest".

Yet when Livni arrived in Britain on Thursday, something went wrong. In what was billed as a "test case" for a law designed to remove the threat of arrest for visiting Israeli officials, Livni only avoided a warrant due to a legal assessment by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) that she was on a "Special Mission"..."

URL Link: http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/the-staggers/2011/10/special-mission-livni-visit