Malaysia recalls 2 envoys for 'failures' on PM's UAE visit

PUTRAJAYA • Malaysia's top two diplomats in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) were ordered home because they failed to coordinate administrative and logistics matters during Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob's visit to the Middle Eastern country recently.

Malaysia's Foreign Ministry, Wisma Putra, said the country's ambassador to the UAE and the consul-general in Dubai failed to handle standard tasks for high-ranking visits overseas, especially during Datuk Seri Ismail's visit to Dubai last month. The two envoys were not named in the statement yesterday by the ministry.

"The failure had resulted in the Prime Minister having to wait for a long time at the arrival hall for passport and immigration clearance," the statement said.

"Also, there was no security coverage such as motorcade movements..."

The statement followed a report in a Malaysian online news site that two senior diplomats in the UAE were ordered home owing to the lack of official "guest status" for Mr Ismail's visit.

The statement said it is common practice for Malaysia's heads of missions abroad to provide security coverage and a motorcade for prime ministers during their visits.

The ministry pointed out that Mr Ismail was provided with security and a motorcade when he recently attended the United Nations General Assembly in New York, where the host government did not provide him with "guest status".

The two diplomats also failed to inform the ministry about the World Government Summit (WGS) on March 29 and 30 during the Dubai Expo. Wisma Putra leadership knew about the summit only on March 30 through a different source. "Should we have been informed of the summit, certainly efforts would have been made so that the Prime Minister could deliver a speech at the programme."

The ministry said Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah met UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Reem Ebrahim Al Hashimy on March 30 and was told that Mr Ismail was invited to attend the WGS closing later that day.

"This problem would not have occurred if coordination was made earlier. This is because the UAE government had prepared all facilities for the Prime Minister as head of government right till the end of his visit."

The ministry also noted that the UAE government had arranged for a static guard of honour at Al Maktoum International Airport on the day Mr Ismail left Dubai and that UAE Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy and Remote Work Omar Bin Sultan Al Olama was present to represent his government.

"The move to call back the two officials is nothing out of the ordinary and was done through discussions with all parties, including the Public Service Department," Wisma Putra said. "It was taken to protect interests in bilateral relations between Malaysia and the said countries and to ensure the competency of the public service."

THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK