Sudan Expels U.N. Envoy Over Report of Losses in Darfur

KHARTOUM, Sudan, Oct. 22 -- The Sudanese government on Sunday ordered the chief U.N. envoy out of the country after he wrote that Sudan's army had suffered major losses in recent fighting in Darfur.

The order against the envoy, Jan Pronk, is likely to complicate international efforts to halt the killings, rapes and other atrocities in the strife-torn region of western Sudan.

In a statement distributed by the official Sudan News Agency, the country's Foreign Ministry accused Pronk of demonstrating "enmity to the Sudanese government and the armed forces" and of involvement in unspecified activities "that are incompatible with his mission."

Pronk was given 72 hours starting at midday Sunday to leave, the news agency said.

In New York, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Secretary General Kofi Annan had received a letter from the Sudanese government asking that Pronk be removed from the post.

"The secretary general is studying the letter and has in the meantime requested that Mr. Pronk come to New York for consultations," Dujarric said.

Pronk, a blunt-spoken former Dutch cabinet minister, drew sharp criticism from the Sudanese armed forces after he wrote this month in his personal blog, http://www.janpronk.nl , that Sudan's military had suffered heavy losses in recent fighting with rebels in northern Darfur.

"Reports speak about hundreds of casualties in each of the two battles with many wounded and many taken as prisoner," he wrote.

The Sudanese armed forces said Thursday that those remarks amounted to "psychological war against the Sudanese army" and declared that Pronk was "persona non grata."

One day later, the military demanded an official apology.

Even before the blog entry appeared, Sudan's government had been at odds with Pronk over international efforts to persuade Sudan to allow a U.N. force of 20,000 troops to take over peacekeeping in Darfur from a 7,000-member African Union force.

Violence has risen dramatically in recent weeks in Darfur, where the Sudanese army, backed by an Arab militia called the Janjaweed, and Darfur rebel groups have been fighting since 2003. As many as 450,000 people have died in violence and from disease, and 2.5 million have been displaced.

U.N. officials have said the African Union force is too small and ill-equipped to cope with the violence and protect civilians from rape, murder and pillage.

But President Omar Hassan al-Bashir has rejected a U.N. peacekeeping force, branding it as simply a bid to restore colonial rule.

Despite the move against Pronk, the official news agency said the Sudanese government was "committed to cooperate" with the United Nations and would work with a new envoy "in accordance with signed treaties with the U.N. and the current principles of international law."

In Geneva, U.N. spokeswoman Marie Heuze noted that Pronk's comments were on his private blog and reflect "only his personal views."

Pronk, 66, served several terms in the Dutch parliament and served in the Dutch cabinet under two prime ministers. He was appointed as U.N. special representative for Sudan in June 2004.