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Albanian envoy, ex-US lawmaker to arrive
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Posted on Oct 07 2004
Albanian ambassador to the U.S. Fatos Tarifa and former North Carolina congressman David Funderburk are expected to arrive today on Saipan for a three-day visit.
The dignitaries will be formally welcomed by the 14th CNMI Legislature in a joint session to be held at 10am today on Capitol Hill.
“The ambassador will be the first official from the European nation to visit the Northern Mariana Islands,” said House leadership spokesman Charles Reyes Jr.
Reyes said Tarifa’s visit came following the invitation of House Speaker Benigno R. Fitial.
“As the very first Albanian representative to visit the CNMI, it is especially noteworthy and gratifying to have this opportunity to represent my country of Albania as its ambassador to the U.S. while visiting your strategic U.S. territory in the Pacific,” Tarifa said in a recent letter to Fitial.
Reyes said Tarifa’s itinerary includes a courtesy call on the CNMI Legislature today, a wreath-laying at the World War II Soldier Memorial Monuments, and a flight to Tinian to see the World War II runways.
A luncheon gathering at Aqua Resort Club and a dinner at Dai Ichi Hotel will be held for him and Funderburk today.
Besides being the Albanian envoy to the United States, Tarifa is also the ambassador (nonresident) to the United Mexican States, Dominican Republic, and Panama.
Tarifa, 50, is a career sociologist and university professor. He has a doctorate in sociology from the University of North Carolina and a Ph.D. in political science from the University of Tirana.
He has authored and co-authored, and edited 13 books and numerous articles on political science, social theory, philosophy, social problems, intellectual history, and international relations.
Funderburk, meantime, served as congressman for North Carolina from 1995 to 1997, and a U.S. ambassador to Romania from 1981 to 1985. He currently runs his own consultancy firm David Funderburk & Associates.
