Embassy Row

Greek revival

Congressional foreign-policy leaders congratulated Greek Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis for the success of the Olympics.

“History will record these games as among the greatest, if not the greatest, of all time,” said a letter signed by Republicans Sen. Richard G. Lugar of Indiana and Rep. Henry J. Hyde of Illinois, chairmen of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and House International Relations Committee, respectively, and by Sen. Joseph R. BidenJr. of Delaware and Rep. Tom Lantos of California, the senior Democrats on those committees.

“Greece demonstrated an extraordinary ability to handle over 10,000 athletes from 202 countries and hundreds of thousands of spectators and journalists and did so efficiently, securely and with your famous Greek hospitality.”

Diplomatic briefing

Some foreign diplomats complained privately that former President George Bush did nothing but talk about his son, the current president, during an exclusive briefing at the Republican National Convention in New York.

They told United Press International that a briefing by former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger was more interesting because he criticized some elements of the current President Bush’s foreign policy.

“Kissinger was quite outspoken and told us where the administration’s foreign policy had gone wrong,” one diplomat said.

Some diplomats also were disappointed when they learned they could not get into Madison Square Garden because of limited seating and had to watch the convention from a hotel.

Diplomatic traffic

Foreign visitors in Washington this week include:

Today

• George Gomiashvili, deputy foreign minister of Georgia. He meets State Department officials and addresses the Carnegie Foundation and the Jamestown Foundation.

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