This is a funny story carried by IHT today:
"A Malaysian diplomat has apologized to the Iraqi Embassy for mistaking a gift parcel of sweet pickles as anthrax powder, a news report said Saturday.
Zakaria Sulong, the newly appointed ambassador to Germany, sent a fax to the Iraqi mission offering his "sincere and deepest apologies" for the misunderstanding which he "deeply regretted," the New Straits Times said.
The Iraqi Embassy sent the parcel to Zakaria as a gift on Sept. 13 to mark the Islamic holiday of Ramadan. He only saw white powder when he opened it and fearing it might be anthrax, placed the box in a barrel outside his house and called the police, the newspaper said.
Police discovered the powder was sugar sprinkled on top of the pickles to preserve them, it said.
Iraq's envoy lodged a complaint with Malaysia's foreign ministry over Zakaria's "panic-stricken behavior," the report said.
Iraq's charge d'affaires Hoshiar Dazayi was quoted as saying the fruit pickles were an Iraqi delicacy and were also sent to the offices of the Malaysian king, prime minister and foreign minister as Ramadan gifts.
"It is such a special sweet and this year I wanted to show my appreciation to the Malaysian government, the ministry and my friends," he said.
Zakaria's apology was personal and fell short of an official apology from the Malaysian government, he added.
Zakaria and Iraqi Embassy officials could not be reached Saturday for comment."
Perhaps our Diplomatic Corp should train all new Ambassadors on how to differentiate between pickles and anthrax and learn to be less panicky.
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