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Article: SYLVIA: A FIXER AT THE BEIRUT EMBASSY.
- Article from:
- Contemporary Review
- Article date:
- October 1, 2001
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2001 Contemporary Review Company Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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ONLY two categories of persons are indispensible in any British Embassy. The first is the Ambassador himself, without whom, since accreditation is personal, from Head of State to Head of State, there would be no embassy. The second is the 'fixer' the homme (or femme) a tout faire without whom it would not function. One may take or leave the rest.
The latter class is known collectively as Locally Engaged Staff, to give them their formal title, or more colloquially, as local staff. The 'fixer' normally has some length of service and often has seen many Ambassadors come and go. To the fixer everyone confides his or her woes over delayed luggage, airport passes and ...