Being compared to Harry Potter a bad thing??
BRUSSELS: Belgium apologised to the Dutch prime minister yesterday after its foreign minister compared him to Harry Potter, the boy wizard of children’s literature.Following the outrage caused by the remark over the weekend, Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt called Dutch leader Jan Peter Balkenende to apologise.Verhofstadt later released a joint statement with Balkenende, saying that they had agreed to put the matter behind them and focus on the “major challenges” facing the European Union.Foreign Minister Karel De Gucht described Balkenende as “a mix between Harry Potter and a brave rigid bourgeois” in an interview published on Saturday in the Belgian daily Het Laatse Nieuws.Many have likened Balkenende to Harry Potter with his round glasses, mop of brown hair and youthful looks.He was even photographed during the 2002 elections holding a picture of himself and Potter film actor Daniel Radcliffe.
“If Mr Balkenende has a problem with it, I have no problem apologising,” he told the Belgian news agency Belga, saying that he had already sent a letter to say sorry.
It is not the first time that De Gucht has got himself into trouble for being undiplomatic.

**From Gulf Times