Embassy Row

IVORY TOWER

The ambassador from the Ivory Coast, like the defeated president who appointed him, is refusing to give up his position in Washington, even though the State Department recognized a new envoy named by the internationally recognized winner of November’s presidential election.

Ambassador Charles Yao Koffi, who has been in Washington since 2007, is “still on the job,” embassy spokeswoman Cynthia Guibi told Agence France-Presse on Friday.

Mr. Koffi was appointed by Ivory Coast strongman Laurent Gbagbo, who refuses to concede the election to Alassane Ouattara, recognized by the United States and most other nations as the winner of the Nov. 28 election.

“Alassane Ouattara is not the president of the Ivory Coast,” Ms. Guibi told a reporter. “That the State Department decided to accept the credentials from a certain individual sent by a candidate who was not elected, it’s with the State Department you must verify that.”

Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg on Friday accepted the diplomatic credentials presented by Daouda Diabate, whom Mr. Ouattara appointed to represent the West African nation in the United States.

Mr. Diabate, a career diplomat, is the former ambassador from the Ivory Coast. He served under Mr. Gbagbo from 2004 until 2007, when Mr. Koffi replaced him.

Presentation of diplomatic credentials to the State Department means Mr. Diabate can officially function as the Ivory Coast envoy here. He also must present his credentials to President Obama.

TENSION IN TEHRAN

Iran’s brutal theocratic regime is trying to scramble electronic communications to prevent demonstrators from protesting on Monday in support of the popular revolutions in Egypt and Tunisia, Iranian dissidents in Washington tell Embassy Row.

The Internet is completely cut off for hours at a time and text messages are difficult to send, said one dissident, who asked not to be identified for fear of reprisals from the regime.

“The regime is trying to censor news about Egypt after Mubarak’s fall out of fear that it might inspire people to rise against it,” the dissident said, referring to the ouster of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak last week.

“But youths and freedom-loving people are awaiting such an event in Iran. People think of one thing: Being present for freedom.”

Last week, Washington Times correspondent Ben Birnbaum reported that the Iranian government threatened to crush any unauthorized demonstration in support of the Egyptian and Tunisian uprisings, after Iranian pro-democracy advocates began planning for Monday’s protest.

DIPLOMATIC TRAFFIC

Foreign visitors in Washington this week include:

Tuesday

- Ilyas Akhmadov, former foreign minister of Chechnya, who discusses the crisis in the north Caucasus in a forum at the School for Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University.

Wednesday

- Foreign Minister Audronius Azubalis of Lithuania, who testifies before the congressional Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe at 3:30 p.m. in Room 562 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building. Lithuania holds the yearlong chairmanship of the 56-nation Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, based in Vienna, Austria.

- Patrick Utomi, a candidate for president of Nigeria from the Social Democratic Mega Party. He addresses the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

- Call Embassy Row at 202/636-3297 or e-mail jmorrison@washington times.com.