As
Sudan
Expels
Reporter For
UNDP Quote,
UNDP Denies It
& Lack
of Access
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
January 5 --
With the
Sudanese
government
this week
refusing
to renew the
visa and
journalist
permit of a
freelance
reporter who
quoted a UN
official that
Sudan's
eastern
Kassala state
is "a
volcano
waiting to
erupt," the
backstory
Inner City
Press has
found reflects
badly on the
UN.
Mathieu
Galtiertold
Agence France
Presse "the
official
reason is
because our
visa in
finishing."
AFP added
that he
"published
a
controversial
article in
early December
for IRIN, a
news service
of
the United
Nations
humanitarian
agency. It
quoted 'a
well-placed
international
official in
Kassala' who
compared the
country's
eastern
Eritrea border
region with a
volcano.
Within months,
it could erupt
into a
conflict such
as those
already
occurring in
Sudan's South
Kordofan and
Blue Nile
states, the
official was
quoted as
saying."
Actually,
Galtier's
sourcing
was more
specific, at
least in
French (on Slate
Afrique,
no longer on
IRIN it
seems), to an
official of
the UN
Development
Program. Click
here to view
(for now?)
On
January 3, two
days before AFP's
story on
Galtier's
expulsion,
Inner City
Press asked
UNDP to
respond to
Sudanese state
media
bragging how
it got the
report
retracted,
requesting in
writing that
spokesman
Sausan
Ghosheh
"please
provide
UNDP response
to Sudanese
state media
reporting: 'a
Sudanese-UN
legal fight
that ended
with a UN
apology for a
report on
situations on
eastern Sudan
by a UNDP
official. The
report, which
was
published on a
website,
belongs to the
UN, predicted
escalations of
the situations
in eastern
Sudan due to
claims of lack
of development
projects and
presence of an
armed faction
that prepares
for launching
attacks in
eastern Sudan
from its bases
in Eritrea.
Few hours
after
publishing the
report, the UN
rushed to deny
it using all
soft means
to contain the
matter.'"
Two
days later,
Ghosheh
answered the
question in
this way:
"UNDP has
guidance on
who can
represent the
organization
with media. No
UNDP
designated
official has
spoken to the
media on this
issue."
Is
UNDP saying
that the
article
initially on
the UN's IRIN
was false,
making up
quotes from a
UNDP official?
Or is the UN
again sucking
up to the
government,
retracting
criticism and
even articles?
Inner
City Press
also
asked Ghosheh:
"deny
or
confirm (and
explain why
its silence)
that Sudanese
authorities
barred UNDP
from entering
Al Muglad in
South
Kordofan.
(c) UN Photo
Ban Ki-moon
& Helen
Clark of UNDP,
press
conference
answers not
shown, not
given
Separately,
have
there been UN
system
vehicles
detained by
military
intelligence
in Babanusa,
and/or barred
from passing
to El Obeid in
North
Kordofan?"
After
two days,
Ghosheh
replied
"Sudanese
authorities
did not deny
UNDP or UNDP
staff access
to el Muglad."
Given
that UNDP in
New York is
disavowing --
or calling a
lie -- a quote
Khartoum
didn't
like from a
UNDP official
in Sudan, is
UNDP supposed
to be believed
that Khartoum
did not deny
access to el
Muglad, or
South
Kordofan, or
El Obeid?
Separately,
since IRIN
operates under
the UN Office
for the
Coordination
of
Humanitarian
Affairs, how
is OCHA's
Valerie Amos'
new deal with
Khartoum
regarding
Kordofan and
Blue Niles
states
supposed to be
viewed? Watch
this site.
, 
