Thomas Furey backs out
Posted by Dano on May 25, 2000 at 16:44:01:
Thomas Furey backs out
By Akhilesh Upadhyay
KATHMANDU, April 26 - Following allegations that he had abandoned a Nepali infant after six months
of adoption due to the baby boy's "dark skin colour", the US Ambassador Designate to Nepal, Thomas
Furey, has asked White House to withdraw his nomination.
In a letter addressed today to the Editor of The Kathmandu Post, Furey said: "I have with deep regret
and profound sadness requested the White House to withdraw my nomination to serve as US
Ambassador to the Kingdom of Nepal. Because your newspaper chose to carry several recent articles
about me, I wanted to offer you the reasons for my decision," Furey said in a letter forwarded to the
Post by the American Center in Kathmandu.
The Post ran two stories - on April 11 and April 17 - on the Furey controversy, alleging that the
American diplomat had adopted a Nepali infant from Bal Mandir when he was here in the early 80s at
US Embassy but handed back the child to the government-run shelter home when his in-laws
protested about the child's "dark skin colour." They are said to have threatened the Fureys of
disinheritance if they failed to oblige.
"Many of your (The Kathmandu Post's) readers will be aware of the allegations against me, and it is
not my intention to argue whether what my wife and I did was right or wrong when we decided not to
proceed with adopting a child from Nepal. That was our decision, for which we take full responsibility.
"I will say, however, that those allegations have been inaccurate, unfair, and maliciously hurtful to me
and my family," he says, keeping well short of explaining what made them change their mind about
the child, and whether he regrets his decision to abandon the child.
"One allegation which cannot be let to stand unanswered is the charge that my wife's parents did not
support an adoption. That is false. My wife's parents were two of the most loving and kind people I
have ever known and would have supported us wholeheartedly had we gone forward. "Both of them
died last year. In a way that is a blessing because their hearts would have broken had they heard
themselves described with the ugly term "racist." As it is, it is our hearts that were broken."
The April 11 story in the Post, which ran under the headline "US Ambassador-designate labelled
'racist', recorded outrage over "his alleged racist background." Subsequently, the Post carried letters
to the editor, by both Americans and a Nepali, expressing strong disappointment over Furey's
appointment. Belated attempts to reach Furey for his reaction failed, however.
"I am grateful for the confidence expressed in me by the President of the United States when he
nominated me to be Ambassador to Nepal and to the support we have received from many people,
including Nepalese, who have encouraged us to clear our names," says Furey. "However, I have
decided that the more important point is to ensure that a decision I made nearly 20 years ago does
not become a distraction or do damage to the excellent relations between our two countries."
The allegations against the Fureys are primarily based on claims by a senior US government official
who was working for the World Bank's Kathmandu office in 1982 when the incident took place. A
number of people, both Nepalis and foreigners, have been in touch with this reporter since April 11
(when the Post first reported on the controversy) but none - except newspaper columnist Barbara
Adams - would go on record to make comments on the controversy.
Corroboration of USAID official Robert Cardinalli's claims - that the Fureys gave up the child for his
"dark skin color - has at best been weak. And it still remains a mystery as to why the Fureys gave up
the child.
Cardinalli, a senior USAID official in Cairo, had appealed to the US Senator Jesse Helms, chairman of
the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to block Furey's appointment. The Senate Foreign Relations
Committee approves all ambassadorial appointments before they are put to the Senate for a
customary vote.
Nepal government, which had earlier sent an agreemo endorsing Furey's appointment, recently sent a
second letter to the US government "voicing our concern" following news reports here on Furey's
alleged misconduct 18 years ago, a government official told the Post yesterday.