Envoy "manhandled" by NY Cop

UNITED NATIONS (AFP) - Caribbean UN ambassadors on Friday complained to US authorities after the St Vincent and Grenadines envoy said he was arrested, grabbed by the neck and handcuffed as he tried to enter his office.

The envoy Camillo Gonsalves was detained on Wednesday as he entered his mission's New York office block. New York police said the envoy was detained when he moved barricades and then refused to show any identification.

Caribbean ambassadors sent a joint letter to the US mission to the United Nations complaining about what they called the 'blatant and aggressive conduct'.

'Ambassador Gonsalves was arrested and handcuffed for alleged disorderly conduct after he stepped out of his official vehicle bearing diplomatic plates and walked through the barricade to his office building,' said the letter.