The Syrian ambassador, Mikhail Wehbe, complained that the language was too weak and did not take Arab concerns into account.

One ambassador complained in 1990 that the department's insistence on approving interviews was like forcing them to "raise their hands and ask Mommy's permission."

That was one of the things the ambassador had complained about, according to news reports as the facts of the entire affair had come to light.

Some ambassadors here have also complained privately that their governments' offers of assistance were ignored for days before the Japanese responded.

A former Russian ambassador in London complained in 1803 that it had "more people than the offices of all the secretaries of state in Europe combined".

The Israeli ambassador to Spain, Raphael Schutz, complained about the interview although he did not try to stop its publication.

The French ambassador did not openly complain, preferring to declare victory.

"I think these precautions are getting a bit excessive," the ambassador for the United States complained.

He was also noted for discretion; foreign ambassadors complained that it would be easier to get information from a brick wall.

After the vote, though, Egypt's ambassador, Maged Abdelaziz, complained that the day should honor all victims of genocide, not just those from the Holocaust.