Pictures confirm third gatecrasher at State Dinner

Pictures posted on social networking sites, showing Carlos Allen with other guests, have confirmed that the third gatecrasher attended the White House State Dinner hosted by US President Barack Obama for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in November last.

Allen is alleged to be the third gatecrasher for the State Dinner after the Salahis couple who attended the event uninvited. Allen's lawyer, however, asserts that they had an invitation.

The Politico reported that a series of pictures posted online confirm that Allen had attended the White House State Dinner on November 24 last year.

"In the pictures, Allen is seated at a table with several guests: ABC's Robin Roberts, US Ambassador to Belize Vinai Thummalapally and his wife Barbara, State Bank of India CEO Om Prakash Bhatt and Eboo Patel of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships," it said.

It said that an ABC spokesperson told Politico Roberts chatted with Allen at the table and assumed -- like everyone else -- that he was an invited guest.

"After video became available on Wednesday, she recognised that the alleged party crasher was the same person who sat at her table," it said.

Politico said it discovered the pictures Wednesday on Picasa, Google's picture-hosting site, within an album apparently posted by Barbara Thummalapally.

The album titled 'White House State Dinner 11/24/09' contains 69 photos from the event, three of which include Allen. The identity of two women on the table are unknown.

Politico said Allen's case is more curious than that of the Salahis. While the Salahis did not attend the actual dinner and left before it started, Allen got a seat on the dining table.

"Many of the place settings at the dinner came with place cards that included the names of the guests assigned that seat. The photos reviewed by Politico do not show a place card with Allen's name on it," the Politico said.