U.N. DIPLOS GET A KICK IN ARREARS
November 21, 2003 -- Some permanent missions to the United Nations aren't so permanent after all.No phone or electricity must have made them feel right at home.
A group of deadbeat diplomats from the West African republic of Guinea-Bissau were booted from their East Side offices yesterday morning after a multiyear battle over nonpayment of rent.
It is believed to be the first such eviction of a U.N. mission - which, like embassies and consulates, are considered sovereign territory.
According to court papers, the mission owes its landlord, Eastgate Realty, $186,162.04 dating to the mid-1990s. Phone and electricity service had been shut off years ago for nonpayment.
