Gift
was also not among Caricom foreign ministers, who met with US Secretary
of State Condoleeza Rice to discuss a possible new free trade deal
at the UN headquarters last week.
The top US diplomat had agreed to meet with her Caribbean counterparts
on September 25 during sessions of the Assembly, the Caricom Secretariat
in Georgetown, Guyana had announced.
The Ministers were expected to discuss drug trafficking and development
in Haiti.
Sources say that the straw that broke the camel back was when Gift
was blanked from attending the Protocolary Session of the Organisation
of American States (OAS) Permanent Council in Washington, DC on
Wednesday.
Prime Minister Patrick Manning, who addressed the session was accompanied
on the trip by Herbert Atwell, Head of Public Affairs, Mark Regis,
Protocol Officer and his security officers.
A dinner was hosted on Thursday for Manning by the Inter-American
Economic Council, chaired by Ambassador Christopher Thomas, which
promotes dialogue on current and future economic strategies in the
hemisphere among senior Government officials, private sector executives
and academic.
Gift, as Foreign Affairs Minister was sidelined for the $29 million
Carifesta 2006, which was opened last week, which featured more
than 1,000 participants from 25 Caribbean countries.
One source said that Gift felt that the prime minister was taking
over his portfolio and before having to face humiliation and embarrassment
he decided that he should resign and Manning accepted it without
any hesitation.
A release from Whitehall said: “The Prime Minister has accepted
Gift’s resignation and in so doing has expressed his gratitude
for the loyal service rendered by Gift during his tenure as Minister
of Foreign Affairs.”
It was the second time that Gift had resigned from the Manning administration.
In his letter of resignation, Gift said he did a creditable job
and was leaving with a “clear conscience”. |
