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| Africa: Horn |
| Sudan Security Rough Up Rice Delegation |
| 2005-07-21 |
| EFL: Maybe there's a Carrier Air Group in the area that can do a flyover over beautiful downtown Khartoum? Just to say hi...and to let them know we can do it anytime we want. KHARTOUM, Sudan - Security forces in the Sudanese capital manhandled U.S. officials and reporters traveling with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, marring her round of congratulatory meetings with leaders of the new unified government. Rice demanded an apology, and got it. "It makes me very angry to be sitting there with their president and have this happen," she said. "They have no right to push and shove." Rice made her remarks to reporters after she and her entourage boarded an airplane to fly from the capital to a refugee camp in the Darfur region. At the camp, she said the United States would hold the Sudanese government to account if it fails to end the refugee crisis. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the Sudanese foreign minister responded to Rice's demand for an apology by telephoning her aboard the plane to express regret for the incidents at the ultra-high-security residence of Sudanese President Omar el-Bashir. Twice, Sudanese guards' hostility toward members of Rice's entourage devolved into shouts and shoving. As Rice's motorcade arrived at the residence, armed guards slammed the gate shut before three vehicles could get in, including those carrying Rice's interpreter and other State Department officials who were supposed to attend her meeting with el-Bashir. After protests, the officials were eventually allowed in. But guards repeatedly pushed and pulled Rice senior adviser Jim Wilkinson, and at one point he was shoved into a wall. "Diplomacy 101 says you don't rough your guests up," Wilkinson said later. Once Rice's traveling group was inside, the guards tried to keep reporters out of a planned photo shoot of Rice's meeting. When reporters were finally allowed in, they were elbowed and guards repeatedly tried to rip a microphone away from a U.S. reporter. They were ordered not to ask questions, over State Department objections. When NBC diplomatic reporter Andrea Mitchell tried to ask el-Bashir a question about his involvement with alleged atrocities, a scuffle broke out. Guards grabbed the reporter and muscled her toward the rear of the room as State Department officials shouted at the guards to leave her alone. "Get your hands off her!" Wilkinson demanded. But all the reporters and a camera crew were physically forced out. Ambassador Khidair Haroun Ahmed, head of the Sudanese mission in Washington, attempted to smooth over the situation on the spot. "Please accept our apologies," he told the reporters and aides. "This is not our policy." At least not publicly...Condi should've just kicked his ass herself. |
| Posted by:tu3031 |
| #5 My understanding is that Alan Greenspan, Andrea's hubby, is going after the brunts in Sudan. Greenspan has his ways of striking back at 'em. |
| Posted by: Captain America 2005-07-21 16:07 |
| #4 It will be very interesting to see how Mitchell reports on this. Will she begin to see the light that the Bush administration and America are not the root of all evil, and that perhaps real threats to her life and livelihood lie elsewhere? Enquiring minds and all that... |
| Posted by: remoteman 2005-07-21 12:54 |
| #3 While this is disgusting, I would have paid anything to see Andrea Mitchell get roughed up. |
| Posted by: Captain America 2005-07-21 10:00 |
| #2 I much prefer the flyby solution - low enough and supersonic, bust a few windows... |
| Posted by: Tony (UK) 2005-07-21 09:47 |
| #1 State Department officials shouted at the guards to leave her alone Typical foggy bottom response to everything, unfortunately. Phear our strongly worded resolutions! Time for the guards to start carrying MP5s.....and using them? What I really want to know is, with the incident with Bush and his guards, and now this, how long before a high ranking delegate is seized and/or shot by a hostile govenment when we are there on diplimatic missions? |
| Posted by: mmurray821 2005-07-21 09:26 |