Britain has sent invitations to leaders of almost every country in the world to attend the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II, which will be held next Monday, and ignored at least six countries.
In total, the British Foreign Office sent handwritten invitations to about a thousand public figures around the world to attend the funeral, and before that a welcome ceremony will be held by King Charles III next Sunday.
The deadline to respond to those invitations is Thursday, after which officials will make the final plan for the locations of the guests during the ceremony.
The invitation was not extended to the Syrian regime or Venezuela, because Britain does not currently have diplomatic relations with them.
The Reuters news agency quoted a source as saying that Afghanistan was not invited "because of the current political situation in it," as he put it.
The Taliban movement will assume the reins of power in Afghanistan after the withdrawal of US forces at the end of August 2021.
Britain did not invite any representatives of Russia or Belarus, due to the ongoing war in Ukraine, nor did it invite Myanmar's leaders.
On the other hand, British MPs under sanctions by the Chinese government criticized the decision to invite China to the funeral.
They demanded that representatives of China be prevented from entering the Palace of Westminster, where the Queen's coffin is currently being deposited by the British.
Last year, the British Parliament voted in favor of describing the treatment of Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang by the Chinese authorities as "genocide".