http://www.france24.com/en/20141226-top-un-officials-ordered-leave-sudan-insulting-country/
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Top UN officials ordered to leave Sudan for ‘insulting’ the country
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© Ebrahim Hamid, AFP file picture | The presidential palace in Khartoum,
Sudan
Text by NEWS WIRES <
http://www.france24.com/en/author/news-wires>
Latest update : 2014-12-26
Sudan said Friday it ordered two top United Nations officials to leave
Khartoum for "insulting" the country and being "prejudiced" against its
government.
UN <
http://www.un.org/en/> Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator Ali
Zaatari and UN Development Programme Country Director Yvonne Helle were
told to leave, in a move criticised by Secretary General Ban Ki-moon
<
http://www.france24.com/en/tag/ban-ki-moon/>who urged Khartoum to reverse
the decision.
But the foreign ministry said it ordered Zaatari, a Jordanian national, to
leave for "insulting the Sudanese people and its political leadership in an
interview with a Norwegian newspaper".
In early December, a website close to Sudan's security apparatus said that
Zaatari had criticised President Omar al-Bashir's government in an
interview published by the Norwegian publicationBistandsaktuelt
<
http://www.bistandsaktuelt.no/>.
The Sudan Media Centre quoted Zaatari as saying that the Sudanese "rely on
humanitarian aid that we give them" and that he was "forced" to work with
Bashir, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged war
crimes in the western Darfur region.
Zaatari confirmed he had been interviewed by Bistandsaktuelt, but denied he
had made the comments attributed to him.
Helle, a Dutch national, was expelled, the foreign ministry said on Friday,
because she was "strongly prejudiced against the Sudanese government" and
"treated Sudanese officials with arrogance".
It said she had "stopped technical and financial support for a number of
projects and strategic plans" without consulting the government.
Zaatari and Helle could not be immediately reached for comment.
The foreign ministry also urged the UN secretary general to "revise" his
criticism of the decision to expel the pair.
The expulsions are the latest in a string of incidents with aid and
humanitarian workers -- in April, Khartoum told the American chief of the
UN Population Fund to leave for "interfering" in internal affairs.
They also come amid heightened tensions between Sudan and the UN-African
Union peacekeeping mission in Darfur
<
http://www.france24.com/en/tag/darfur/>.
A bid by the mission to investigate a report that government forces raped
200 women and girls in a Darfur village has sparked anger in Khartoum.
Sudan <
http://www.france24.com/en/tag/sudan/> demanded UNAMID form an "exit
strategy" and told it to shut a human rights office in Khartoum.
Darfur has been mired in conflict since 2003, when ethnic insurgents
rebelled against Sudan's Arab-dominated government, complaining of
marginalisation.
Since 2003, the UN says two million people have been displaced and at least
300,000 killed.
*(*
Received on Sat Dec 27 2014 - 16:22:10 EST