KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent – This country is expecting to know after the Easter vacation whether Israel will sign “a formal letter of protest” against the March 28 arrest of U.N. Ambassador Camillo Gonsalves.
The nations whose permanent missions are located in the building as this country’s have committed to signing the protest document after a New York Police Department Officer arrested the Vincentian envoy in the lobby of the building.
The arrest might have been provoked by heightened security at the address because of the Israeli mission there.
“The Israeli ambassador has yet to indicate one way or the other whether he will sign the letter. However, he has been engaged with another matter and has not been in the building much over the last week. I would anticipate a post Easter response,” Ambassador Gonsalves told I-Witness News in an email Thursday evening.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves said at a media briefing on Tuesday that this country has received support from several U.N. missions as it explores its diplomatic and legal options in seeking redress.
Support has come from the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) ambassadors to the United Nation and the 32-member Group of Latin America and Caribbean Countries (GRULAC).
GRULAC has mandated to follow up the issue through diplomatic channels and that the issue become part of its monthly agenda until it is resolved, the Prime Minister said.
The U.N. ambassadors from several other countries have also expressed their “consternation, solidarity, or willingness to add their voice to any diplomatic action on this issues,” he added.
They include the envoys from India, Australia, the European Union, South Africa, Kenya, the Gambia, Finland, Lithuania, Austria, Kazakhstan, Georgia, Tuvalu, Nauru, Mexico, Argentina, Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua.