Expelled UN envoy to Sudan to be replaced by deputy
Oct 28, 2006 (UNITED NATIONS) — The top U.N. special envoy to Sudan will be replaced by his deputy when his contract expires at the end of the year, a U.N. spokesman said Friday, days after the diplomat was ordered to leave Sudan because of postings on his Web blog.
Jan Pronk, who was to address the U.N. Security Council later Friday about the situation in the violence-plagued Darfur region of Sudan, was expected to return to Khartoum next month to organize the handover, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.
Dujarric said U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan still has full confidence in Pronk, the U.N.’s special representative in Sudan for more than two years.
"However, he also realizes that at a critical time in the Darfur negotiations, it is important that we preserve a good working relationship with the government of Sudan," Dujarric said at a news conference.
On Sunday, the government gave Pronk three days to leave after he accused the Sudanese army of mobilizing Arab militias in the Darfur region following heavy losses in recent fighting with rebels.
The Sudanese military denounced Pronk’s allegations, branding them " psychological warfare against the Sudanese army," claiming he had demonstrated " enmity to the Sudanese government and the armed forces."
Earlier this week in the Netherlands, Pronk said he had merely repeated details on his Web blog that he had read in a local newspaper.
Pronk said he had offended elements within the Sudanese government "who continue to seek a military solution and don’t want anybody peering over their shoulders."
The order for Pronk to leave heightened a dispute between the U.N. and the Khartoum government over peacekeeping in Darfur. Sudan has refused to allow U.N. peacekeepers to replace a poorly equipped African Union force that has been unable to halt escalating violence in the vast western region.
Violence has risen dramatically in recent weeks in Darfur, where more than 200,000 people have been killed and 2.5 million displaced in more than three years of fighting.
(AP)
Oct 28, 2006 (UNITED NATIONS) — The top U.N. special envoy to Sudan will be replaced by his deputy when his contract expires at the end of the year, a U.N. spokesman said Friday, days after the diplomat was ordered to leave Sudan because of postings on his Web blog.
Jan Pronk, who was to address the U.N. Security Council later Friday about the situation in the violence-plagued Darfur region of Sudan, was expected to return to Khartoum next month to organize the handover, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.
Dujarric said U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan still has full confidence in Pronk, the U.N.’s special representative in Sudan for more than two years.
"However, he also realizes that at a critical time in the Darfur negotiations, it is important that we preserve a good working relationship with the government of Sudan," Dujarric said at a news conference.
On Sunday, the government gave Pronk three days to leave after he accused the Sudanese army of mobilizing Arab militias in the Darfur region following heavy losses in recent fighting with rebels.
The Sudanese military denounced Pronk’s allegations, branding them " psychological warfare against the Sudanese army," claiming he had demonstrated " enmity to the Sudanese government and the armed forces."
Earlier this week in the Netherlands, Pronk said he had merely repeated details on his Web blog that he had read in a local newspaper.
Pronk said he had offended elements within the Sudanese government "who continue to seek a military solution and don’t want anybody peering over their shoulders."
The order for Pronk to leave heightened a dispute between the U.N. and the Khartoum government over peacekeeping in Darfur. Sudan has refused to allow U.N. peacekeepers to replace a poorly equipped African Union force that has been unable to halt escalating violence in the vast western region.
Violence has risen dramatically in recent weeks in Darfur, where more than 200,000 people have been killed and 2.5 million displaced in more than three years of fighting.
(AP)
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