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You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/apr/17/in-praise-diplomatic-gifts-hollande

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In praise of … diplomatic gifts In praise of … diplomatic gifts
(5 months later)
At first they tried to kill the story as an April fool. "We don't know whether the information is true," said the Ministry of Defence. "This animal was never going to be sent to France, as has been reported. It was given, in compensation, to a family whose field was hit by French fire. No one knows what happened to it. It feels like a joke," said the Elysée. But it wasn't. And the whole world knows what happened to the camel that François Hollande was given in Mali during his triumphal tour as the liberator of Timbuktu: it ended up in the family stew. To the foes of a president for whom everything is going wrong, the chameau cuisiné en tajine has become a political metaphor sent from heaven. "I thought there were enough camels in the government already," wrote one. A promise to replace the consumed camel with another has not stopped the mirth: "Do our special forces have to get the next camel out before it is eaten?"At first they tried to kill the story as an April fool. "We don't know whether the information is true," said the Ministry of Defence. "This animal was never going to be sent to France, as has been reported. It was given, in compensation, to a family whose field was hit by French fire. No one knows what happened to it. It feels like a joke," said the Elysée. But it wasn't. And the whole world knows what happened to the camel that François Hollande was given in Mali during his triumphal tour as the liberator of Timbuktu: it ended up in the family stew. To the foes of a president for whom everything is going wrong, the chameau cuisiné en tajine has become a political metaphor sent from heaven. "I thought there were enough camels in the government already," wrote one. A promise to replace the consumed camel with another has not stopped the mirth: "Do our special forces have to get the next camel out before it is eaten?"
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