This has the makings of a major public relations disaster!
And all these people to be extras in the film "Brown's Relaunch"
Two headlines I've seen already:- "Brown to host despots in London"
and a follow-up:- "Boris should host Venezuelan democrats"
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FINANCIAL TIMES 9.9.08
Gaddafi and Chávez invited to oil summit
By George Parker and Roula Khalaf
Gordon Brown is to invite Colonel Muammer Gaddafi, Libya's leader,
and Hugo Chávez, the president of Venezuela, to London to attend an
international oil summit which is turning into a diplomatic headache.
Mr Brown wants the December summit to be a success, but the guest
list is proving tricky. So far only Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad, the
president of Iran, among the leaders of big oil producing states
appears to have been blackballed. The prime minister sees the event
as a chance to co-ordinate the world's response to rising oil demand,
while proving to a domestic audience he is taking action to hold down
fuel prices.
"The prime minister is determined to act domestically and to work
with others internationally to address the functioning of
international oil markets," said a spokesman.
But the diplomatic complexity of organising the London event could
capture the headlines, not least if Mr Gaddafi accepts the invitation
and makes his first official visit after years of diplomatic
isolation. Relations were frozen after the bombing of an airliner
over Scotland in 1988 - for which Tripoli later accepted
responsibility - but have improved recently. Tony Blair, former prime
minister, visited Libya last year.
The Libyan leader, who travels with female bodyguards, prefers to
stay in a black Bedouin tent, which has recently been pitched in
government-owned gardens in Paris and Brussels.
While government officials try to find an appropriate pitch for Mr
Gaddafi's tent, the possible arrival of Mr Chávez - a close ally of
Russia and enthusiast for socialist revolution in South America -
could be equally awkward.
Until recently Mr Chávez provided cheap oil for London's buses, a
scheme scrapped by Boris Johnson, the new London mayor.
While informal invitations have been extended to Mr Gaddafi and Mr
Chávez in the past few weeks, Downing Street says formal invitations
have not been sent out. Some British diplomats say Mr Brown is having
trouble attracting highprofile guests, adding that individual
administrations will decide whether to send their head of government
or a relevant minister.
Mr Brown has yet to decide who should be invited to represent Iran,
although officials say it is highly unlikely Mr Ahmadi-Nejad will be
on the guest list because of western anger over his nuclear ambitions.
A further complication is who should represent the US at the summit,
scheduled for mid-December - after the US general election but before
the new president is sworn in. Nor is Washington a fan of Mr Chávez.
Mr Brown wants the summit to take forward the work of the oil summit
organised in the Saudi city of Jeddah in June, which discussed ways
to diversify the world's energy needs and to make oil markets more
transparent.
The summit was considered by some to have yielded few results, but Mr
Brown hopes the follow-up event in London will be more productive.
Among his objectives is some kind of understanding that oil-producing
countries should open up their fields to more foreign investment in
exchange for western countries opening up their energy markets for
investment by oil producing countries, including in the development
of renewables
Two headlines I've seen already:- "Brown to host despots in London"
and a follow-up:- "Boris should host Venezuelan democrats"
xxxxxxxxxx cs
===========================
FINANCIAL TIMES 9.9.08
Gaddafi and Chávez invited to oil summit
By George Parker and Roula Khalaf
Gordon Brown is to invite Colonel Muammer Gaddafi, Libya's leader,
and Hugo Chávez, the president of Venezuela, to London to attend an
international oil summit which is turning into a diplomatic headache.
Mr Brown wants the December summit to be a success, but the guest
list is proving tricky. So far only Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad, the
president of Iran, among the leaders of big oil producing states
appears to have been blackballed. The prime minister sees the event
as a chance to co-ordinate the world's response to rising oil demand,
while proving to a domestic audience he is taking action to hold down
fuel prices.
"The prime minister is determined to act domestically and to work
with others internationally to address the functioning of
international oil markets," said a spokesman.
But the diplomatic complexity of organising the London event could
capture the headlines, not least if Mr Gaddafi accepts the invitation
and makes his first official visit after years of diplomatic
isolation. Relations were frozen after the bombing of an airliner
over Scotland in 1988 - for which Tripoli later accepted
responsibility - but have improved recently. Tony Blair, former prime
minister, visited Libya last year.
The Libyan leader, who travels with female bodyguards, prefers to
stay in a black Bedouin tent, which has recently been pitched in
government-owned gardens in Paris and Brussels.
While government officials try to find an appropriate pitch for Mr
Gaddafi's tent, the possible arrival of Mr Chávez - a close ally of
Russia and enthusiast for socialist revolution in South America -
could be equally awkward.
Until recently Mr Chávez provided cheap oil for London's buses, a
scheme scrapped by Boris Johnson, the new London mayor.
While informal invitations have been extended to Mr Gaddafi and Mr
Chávez in the past few weeks, Downing Street says formal invitations
have not been sent out. Some British diplomats say Mr Brown is having
trouble attracting highprofile guests, adding that individual
administrations will decide whether to send their head of government
or a relevant minister.
Mr Brown has yet to decide who should be invited to represent Iran,
although officials say it is highly unlikely Mr Ahmadi-Nejad will be
on the guest list because of western anger over his nuclear ambitions.
A further complication is who should represent the US at the summit,
scheduled for mid-December - after the US general election but before
the new president is sworn in. Nor is Washington a fan of Mr Chávez.
Mr Brown wants the summit to take forward the work of the oil summit
organised in the Saudi city of Jeddah in June, which discussed ways
to diversify the world's energy needs and to make oil markets more
transparent.
The summit was considered by some to have yielded few results, but Mr
Brown hopes the follow-up event in London will be more productive.
Among his objectives is some kind of understanding that oil-producing
countries should open up their fields to more foreign investment in
exchange for western countries opening up their energy markets for
investment by oil producing countries, including in the development
of renewables
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