26/05/2004 (Agence Europe) - The spokesperson to Commissioner Chris Patten (External Relations) has refuted statements made on Tuesday by British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, who, speaking on Tuesday to the Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee, described the heads of external delegations of the European Commission as "odd bods". "You find all sorts of odd bods running these sorts of odd offices. There are a lot of these people abroad and it is not entirely clear what they are doing. All sorts of people are referred to as ambassadors. I meet them every day. What's astonishing is the less important the country, the more people like this they seem to have", said Mr Straw, according to press articles. Mr Straw and Mr Patten are "good friends", commented Mr Patten's spokesperson, but the terms used by the British Foreign Secretary to describe Commission officials working in delegations in third countries are "quite ridiculous". Mr Patten is to write to Mr Straw to "explain his point of view in greater detail", and to spell out the "important work" carried out by the some 5,000 officials in the Commission's 130 external representations".