U.S., in New Policy, Lifts License of Diplomat Involved in Car Crash
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WASHINGTON — The State Department, underscoring a new policy of focusing attention on diplomats accused of breaking the law, said Thursday it has revoked the driver’s license of an ambassador involved in a car crash that critically injured a newsman.
Kiatro O. Abisinito, the ambassador of Papua New Guinea, lost his permit because of a Feb. 13 accident in which the embassy car he was driving struck four cars, department spokesman Bruce Ammerman said.
The department also informed the U.S. attorney’s office that it could investigate the accident and prepare criminal charges against the 32-year-old ambassador, if they were warranted. But the ambassador, like all foreign diplomats and their families, is immune from prosecution.
Abisinito was charged with failing “to pay full time and attention” to driving, an offense that carries a $100 fine.
State Department officials said there was evidence that Abisinito had been drinking.
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