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PAKISTAN

Norway foreign minister mourns “one of our best”

Norway expressed "great sadness" over the death on Friday of its ambassador to Pakistan in a helicopter crash claimed by the Taliban.

Norway foreign minister mourns
Ambassador Leif Larsson, who died in a helicopter crash in Pakistan on Friday. Photo: Håkon Mosvold Larsen
Leif Larsen, 61, was "one of our best and most experienced diplomats" who was "very respected by his colleagues," Foreign Minister Børge Brende told reporters, adding that his Pakistani counterpart had told him the causes of the crash "could not be fully explained yet."
 
"This will be investigated," and the Pakistani authorities have already "established an investigation committee," Brende said.
 
Larsen, married and the father of one, had been stationed in Islamabad since 2014.
 
The ambassador was killed, along with the Philippines envoy and at least five others, when the military helicopter they were travelling in crashed on a school in a remote area of the Himalayas.
 
The Taliban in Pakistan have claimed responsibility for the crash, claiming they downed the helicopter as part of a plot to kill Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who had been travelling to the same region in a plane.
 
It was not immediately possible to verify the Taliban claim and the northern region where the chopper came down, Gilgit-Baltistan, is not known as a stronghold of the militant organisation.
 
Larsen was at the Hotel Serena in Kabul, when it was attacked by the Taliban  2008, seriously injuring one of his colleagues from the foreign ministry and killing Carsten Thomassen, a journalist with Dagbladet. 
 
"It could just as easily have been me. It was pure coincidence that I was down in the basement," Larsen told the Moss Avis newspaper at the time. 
 
He went on to become Norway's special envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan, starting as ambassador to Pakistan in September. 
 
"We'll show the Taliban that we are serious. We will not be intimidated out of Afghanistan, but on the contrary, continue our efforts to help Afghans lead a normal life," he said. 
 
Prior to his involvement in Pakistan and Afghanistan, Larsen held positions in Saudi Arabia, Iceland and Norway's delegation to Nato over a 29-year career in the foreign ministry. 

AMBASSADOR

Trump’s ambassador to Denmark leaves country as president’s term ends

After three years as United States Ambassador to Denmark, Carla Sands has stepped down from the post and left Copenhagen.

Trump’s ambassador to Denmark leaves country as president’s term ends
Outgoing United States Ambassador to Denmark Carla Sands. Photo: Philip Davali/Ritzau Scanpix

The now-former ambassador confirmed she had taken leave of the Danish capital via Twitter.

US president Donald Trump’s term ends on Wednesday, with President-elect Joe Biden to be inaugurated at 6pm Danish time.

“It's been a privilege serving the Trump Administration for over 3 years as U.S. Ambassador to the Kingdom of Denmark. I’ve enjoyed promoting USA-Denmark-Faroe Islands-Greenland relations,” Sands tweeted.

“I have departed Copenhagen,” she added in a follow-up tweet.

In a video included in the tweets, Sands mentions her highlights of her time as ambassador. These include the re-opening of the US consulate in Greenland capital Nuuk alongside US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Sands, who took over as ambassador in 2017 after being appointed by Trump, is likely to be remembered as the incumbent at the time of Trump’s overtures towards purchasing Greenland, an autonomous territory within the Danish kingdom.

After Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen dismissed Trump’s suggestion that the United States could buy the Arctic territory from Denmark, the US president promptly cancelled an official visit to Denmark scheduled for September 2019.

Sands met with the Danish government on several occasions in an attempt to take the heat out of a potential diplomatic dispute.

READ ALSO: Danes pour scorn on Trump after state visit postponement

More recently, Sands was criticised for tweeting an incorrect claim that her own vote had not been counted in the country's general election.

The ambassador posted on her personal Twitter account a screenshot which she claimed showed her absentee ballot in the state of Pennsylvania had not been registered. She also made several other posts on the site following the US election in support of Trump's baseless claims of election fraud.

Several other Twitter users – as well as the New York Times – looked up Sands' vote on the Pennsylvania state government website and found it was in fact registered.

READ ALSO: US ambassador to Denmark makes incorrect Twitter claim about own vote

After a mob of Donald Trump supporters stormed the Capitol building in Washington DC on January 6th, Sands was officially contacted by foreign minister Jeppe Kofod. The minister called for Trump to concede defeat in the election and ensure a peaceful transition of power.

Newspaper Berlingske reported that this was the first time in history that a Danish foreign minister had officially protested over internal affairs in the United States.

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