Embassy Row

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Laro Tan’s family fled Cambodia during the savage Khmer Rouge regime in the 1970s, but he returned this year as the new American crime fighter at the U.S. Embassy in the capital, Phnom Penh.

“I’m here … to be a bridge between our countries. For me, especially as a native of Cambodia, it is an honor,” he said in an interview posted on the embassy’s Web site (https://phnompenh.usembassy.gov).

Mr. Tan, an FBI agent, is the legal attache assigned to work with the Cambodian National Police to track down fugitives from U.S. justice, capture terrorists and share intelligence on criminal investigations for both countries. He also serves as the legal attache for the U.S. Embassy in Vietnam, although he is headquartered in Cambodia.

“So many of our investigations these days have an overseas connection,” he said. “We don’t have the authority to make arrests or track leads ourselves in other countries, so we go to our partners and ask for help.

“In return, we offer assistance in their cases with U.S. connections and encourage their agencies and officers to take advantage of the many training programs we offer.”

The United States has a history of cooperating with the democratically elected government of Cambodia that dates to at least 2000, when U.S. investigators helped foil an attempted coup.

In 2003, Cambodian authorities tipped U.S. agents searching for the mastermind of the 2002 bombing in Bali, Indonesia, that killed 202 persons. The information led to the arrest of Riduan bin Isamuddin in Thailand.

A typical day for Mr. Tan involves pursuing a fugitive sought by the FBI’s New York office and tracing the connections between an Asian gang in San Francisco and cohorts in Cambodia or Vietnam.

“I’m constantly evaluating and providing assessments of threats that might migrate to U.S. shores,” he said.

“It’s extremely busy. I can tell you that.”

Minneapolis letter

When most embassies deal with the deaths of prominent citizens, they open books of condolences and invite guests to sign them.

Hungarian Ambassador Andras Simonyi took a different approach with the bridge disaster in Minneapolis. He posted a letter of condolences on the embassy Web site (www.huembwas.org) to the residents of a city that has a rich Hungarian heritage.

Along with his wife, Nada, and the embassy staff, Mr. Simonyi expressed “their shock and deep sorrow” over motorists injured and killed when the Interstate 35W bridge collapsed into the Mississippi River last week.

“Minneapolis has for a very long time been a most welcoming city to Hungarians. Its citizens have taken in hundreds of Hungarians fleeing from dictatorships,” Mr. Simonyi said.

“It is with sadness that we think of the families who are now still desperately waiting for the news about their beloved ones. We would like to offer our condolences to the families of the victims of this horrible disaster.”

’Namaste’

The new U.S. ambassador to Nepal stepped off the plane on Monday and greeted waiting reporters with a few words in their native language.

“Namaste,” Ambassador Nancy J. Powell said, folding her hands in front of her and bowing slightly.

The word is usually translated as “I bow to you.”

“It’s very nice to be back,” she added, referring to an earlier posting in the Himalayan nation as a consular officer from 1980 to 1982. “I look forward to working with the government and the people of Nepal as we move forward in this time of democracy.”

“Dhanyabaad,” she said, using the Nepalese word for “thank you.”

The ambassador, who is due to present her credentials tomorrow to Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala, arrived as the country was recovering from the worst flooding in 30 years in the lowland areas and struggling to recover from years of political instability.

Call Embassy Row at 202/636-3297, fax 202/832-7278 or e-mail jmorrison@ washingtontimes.com.