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New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson was successful in his diplomatic efforts to win the release of journalist Paul Salopek, who had been held in Sudan on charges of espionage. Salopek returned to his home in New Mexico yesterday and his paper, the Chicago Tribune, spoke with him about the ordeal:

In the darkest moments of his monthlong detention in Sudan, Chicago Tribune correspondent Paul Salopek said, it was difficult to shake the feeling that he was going to face years in a dank jail cell.

After arriving in his home state of New Mexico on Sunday, Salopek said that for nearly two weeks after his Aug. 6 arrest, Sudanese forces held him in three jails, passing around him and his Chadian driver and interpreter like "a hot potato."

On the 13th day, his government jailers told him at the end of a marathon interrogation that they had found notebooks of interviews with refugees in Chad and maps of Sudan among his belongings.

They told the two-time Pulitzer Prize winner that they knew from this evidence that he was a spy, and that he would face charges of espionage, passing information illegally, writing "false news" and entering the country illegally.

"At that point, I felt they were setting us up for a show trial to discourage all journalists from crossing into Darfur," Salopek said.

Salopek was on leave from the Tribune and was working on a freelance assignment about Darfur for the National Geographic magazine and was captured along with his driver and interpreter while attempting to enter the Darfur region from Chad. The media is frequently criticized for ignoring or not reporting on Darfur and other scenes of humanitarian crises. Salopek’s story should be a reminder that it’s not always easy or safe to do be there and should make us even more thankful for the efforts of those who try to bring these stories home.

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Last week we told you about the saga of Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Paul Salopek, who is being held by the Sudanese government on espionage charges after allegedly trying to enter the Darfur region of the country illegally. Now comes word that help is on the way – sort of. According to this AP article (hat tip: Media Bistro) New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson is putting his international diplomatic skills to work:

The governor plans to meet with Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir and ask for the release of Salopek, his driver and interpreter.

Salopek's wife, Linda, and Chicago Tribune Editor Ann Marie Lipinski will accompany Richardson on the trip to Khartoum, said Pahl Shipley, a spokesman for the governor. Salopek's wife and Lipinski had asked for Richardson's help.

"I will encourage President al-Bashir to recognize the essential role of journalists and a free press and release Paul and his colleagues on humanitarian grounds," Richardson said in a statement on Wednesday.

Richardson, a former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and Cabinet Secretary for the Clinton administration has been involved in many high-profile diplomatic negotiations in the past, most notably involving North Korea. And he aided in getting the release of three Red Cross workers held in Sudan in 1996. The governor is also one of the many politicians mentioned as a possible presidential candidate in 2008. Could Richardson be earning a little good will among the press with this rescue mission? Actually, it turns out Salopek lives in New Mexico, making Richardson's trip even more understandable -- and making us look all the more cynical.

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