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Expelled U.N. Envoy Set to Leave Sudan
In New York, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said 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.
  Chief U.N. Envoy to Sudan, Jan Pronk of the Netherlands, speaks during a press conference in Khartoum, Sudan in this Thursday, Sept 21, 2006 file photo. The Sudanese government on Sunday Oct. 22, 2006 gave Pronk three days to leave the country, Sudan's official news agency reported whilst giving no reason for the order, but Pronk drew sharp criticism from the Sudanese military this month after writing in a personal Web log that government forces had suffered serious losses recently at the hands of rebels in Darfur. (AP Photo/Abdel Raouf, File) (Abdel Raouf - AP) PHOTOS |
The Sudanese government has long opposed Western efforts to get a U.N. force of 20,000 troops to take over peacekeeping in Darfur from the 7,000-member African Union force. U.N. officials say the African Union force is too small and ill-equipped to cope with the violence and protect civilians from rape, murder and pillage.
President Omar al-Bashir has branded a U.N. peacekeeping force as an attempt to restore colonial rule.
More than 200,000 people have been killed and 2.5 million displaced in more than three years of fighting in Darfur.
Despite the move against Pronk, the official news agency said Khartoum was "committed to cooperate" with the U.N. 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."
Last June, the Sudanese suspended the work of all U.N. missions in the Darfur except UNICEF and the World Food Program after claiming the U.N. had transported a rebel leader in violation of agreements.
The next day, the government reversed the decision following a meeting between a representative of the Sudanese Foreign Ministry and the United Nations.
Darfur, a largely arid plateau in western Sudan, has been in turmoil since February 2003, when ethnic African tribes rebelled after years of neglect by the Arab-dominated government in Khartoum.
The government responded with a military campaign in which the Janjaweed are alleged to have committed widespread atrocities. Khartoum denies supporting the Janjaweed.
A peace deal in May was signed by the Sudanese government and the main rebel group, the Sudanese Liberation Movement.
But a breakaway faction and another rebel group rejected the deal and fighting has escalated, causing increasing numbers of aid workers to withdraw, leaving the refugees without food and medicine.
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.
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Associated Press Writer Jasper Mortimer contributed to this story from Cairo.
