KayCee
Joined: 22 Mar 2005
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| Posted: Mon Oct 23, 2006 2:36 pm Post subject: Sudan orders UN envoy out of country |
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Sudan orders UN envoy out of country
United Nations, Oct. 23 (PTI) In what could be a fresh confrontation with the United Nations, the Sudanese government has ordered its chief envoy Jan Pronk, an outspoken critic of Khartoum over mayhem in Darfur, out of the country by Wednesday.
The United Nations yesterday said that Secretary General Kofi Annan is reviewing Sudan's letter and has called Pronk, a former Dutch cabinet minister, to New York for "consultations."
Apparently stung by his sharp attacks on happenings in Darfur where an estimated 200,000 people have died in conflict between rebels and government forces and Arab militias supported by them, Sudan has accused him of being an enemy of the country and armed forces.
The conflict, which has displaced more than 2.5 million people, began in 2003 when black Africans revolted of against alleged discrimination by the government and Khartoum took the help of Janjaweed Arab militias to suppress them.
The Arab militias have been accused of massacres, raping women and burning the crops and villages of Africans. A weak African Union (AU) force has failed to stop the fighting and the UN Security Council has adopted a resolution seeking to replace ineffective AU force with a robust United Nations mission but Sudan has rejected induction of the UN force.
What has angered Sudan is an entry by Pronk in his blog that government forces have suffered two major defeats and that their morale is very low as they have suffered extensive casualties. It also said that several Generals have been cashiered.
On Friday, Secretary-General Kofi Annan's spokesman was closely questioned whether this represented the United Nations views as the blog was written by a senior official.
The spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, declined to go beyond saying that these were his personal views and the Secretary-General views were available in several reports he had written for the Security Council. "There have been a number of discussions with Pronk regarding his blog writings and the expectation of all staff members to exercise proper judgment in what they write in their blogs," he said.
In his blog on Oct 14, Pronk wrote: "The SAF (Sudanese Armed Force) has lost two major battles last month in Ummsidir and this week in Karakaya. The losses seem to have been very high. Reports speak about hundreds of asualties in each of the two battles with many wounded and many taken as prisoners.
"The morale of the government army in North Darfur has gone down. Some Generals have been sacked: soldiers have refused to fight. The government has responded by directing more troops and equipment from elsewhere to the region and by mobilizing Arab militias. This is a dangerous development," he had written.
Diplomats said the blog has embarrassed the United Nations which had been trying to do a careful tight rope walking but they also say that removing him might not be a good idea either.
Annan has slightly more than two months to go and then Ban Ki-moon takes over. He could leave the decision to him as the change might not attract much attention because Ban would in any case reshuffle the entire top hierarchy.
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http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/003200610231231.htm |
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