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Boris Becker Claims Diplomatic Immunity, via a Small African Nation

LONDON — Boris Becker, the former tennis star, hails from Germany, lives in England, and has had homes in, among other places, Switzerland, Monaco, Spain and the United States. But now, he says, he represents (wait for it) the Central African Republic.

Mr. Becker, 50, is trying to fend off creditors who forced him into bankruptcy last year, but instead of the usual debtor’s defense of insolvency, he is claiming diplomatic immunity.

On Thursday, his lawyer told the High Court of Justice in London that British courts could not touch Mr. Becker because the Central African Republic — by some measures, the world’s poorest country — named him in April as its attaché to the European Union for sports, culture and humanitarian affairs.