World

U.S. Diplomat Kicked Out Of Sudan

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

December 7, 2000 / 12:22 PM EST / CBS

Sudan expelled a U.S. diplomat on Thursday, a day after authorities detained him briefly for attending a meeting of opposition leaders accused of subversion, the foreign minister said.

Glenn Warren, a political officer, has 72 hours to leave the country, Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail said.

"The American diplomat was caught in a meeting with leaders of non-registered political organizations and was discussing with them issues related to Sudanese security and stability," Ismail said.

There was no immediate comment from the U.S. Embassy in Khartoum.

Warren, who has been on assignment at the embassy, had been observing a meeting of the National Democratic Alliance, an umbrella organization for Sudanese opposition groups.

Nancy Sterngold/CBS

Sudanese opposition leaders were also arrested, and seven remained in custody on Thursday.

Isamil said he would summon American Charge d'Affaires Raymond Brown and inform him that "Warren is persona non grata and has to leave the country within 72 hours."

He said Warren's attendance at the opposition meeting "was against his diplomatic mission to Khartoum."

For security reasons, the United States does not base diplomats in Khartoum on a permanent basis.

U.S. diplomats instead serve at the embassy on a rotating basis from other countries. The embassy operates with a staff of three but there has been no U.S. ambassador to Sudan since 1997.

Sudanese-Americans relations have been tense for several years. Washington considers Sudan a sponsor of international terrorism and imposed sanctions on the country in 1997. Relations deteriorated further in 1998 when U.S. aircraft bombed a pharmaceutical factory in Khartoum, alleging it was being used for terrorist purposes.

Sudan And The World

Sudan, which has been fighting a civil war for 17 years, is increasingly attracting international criticism.

Human Rights Watch's World Report 2001 says the Sudanese government remains a gross human rights abuser, and rebel groups have committed their share of violations.

The report, released Thursday, says the government has "stepped up its brutal expulsons of southern villagers from the oil production areas and trumpeted its resolve to use the oil income for more weapons."

The group also charges that the government has "intensified its bombing of civilian targets in the war, denied relief food to needy civilians, and abused children's rights," especially in its support for a Ugandan rebel group believed to be holding some 6,000 Ugandan children captive within the Sudan.

The Sudanese government has previously been slammed by Amnesty International and its human rights record was a factor last October when the United Nations General Assembly voted to deny the Sudan a turn at a rotating seat on the U.N. Security Council.

The official Al-Anbaa newspaper, in a rare second edition Thursday, reported the arrests of the opposition leaders under a headline that read: "An American official was detained while participating in a sabotage scheme. The official coordinated with the alliance to carry out an armed act with American support."

It added that the minutes of the meeting outlined a plan to leak information to the rebel movement and carry out sabotage acts against the vital installations of the country "with the backing and assistance of the United States."

Ghazi Suleiman, a lawyer and a member of the alliance, said the meeting was not a secret and authorities knew about it beforehand.

Suleiman charges that Wednesday's detention "was tailored by security agencies to divert the attention of the Sudanese people from the government failure and sham (presidential and parliamentary) elections that are going on now."

Candidates are campaigning for elections scheduled to begin Monday. Some opposition groups are boycotting, saying the elections are undemocratic.

The National Democratic Alliance is an umbrella for opposition groups in Sudan, which are fighting for increased autonomy or independence for the predominantly Christian and animist south.

The rebels and the government have been holding peace talks for the last three years but continue to fight. An estimated 2 million people have died due to fighting, diseases and hunger related to the conflict.