U.N. Envoy Ordered to Leave Sudan

Khartoum has asked the U.N.'s top envoy to Sudan to leave their country within three days for candid comments he has shared on his weblog.

Jan Pronk , the U.N.'s top envoy to Sudan, has been expelled from the country. On Sunday, October 22, he was given three days by Khartoum to turn in diplomatic entitlements and head back to Geneva. The official word in the Sudan News agency for his quasi-deportation was because Jonk had displayed "enmity to the Sudanese government and the armed forces" and that he was involved in other activities "that were incompatible with his mission." That's tyranny-speak for posting observations in his blog.

Pronk shared some uncensored cyber opinions regarding the Sudanese army's involvement in Darfur. What upset Khartoum were his online observations this month that Sudanese army casualties 'seem to have been rather high.' His writing is said to have been equal to 'psychological warfare' against Sudanese forces - or at least for all of those soldiers who rush back to their laptops after battle to check Pronk's latest updates.

What Pronk had been doing was offering some vital information and attempting to alert people to the facts regarding a humanitarian emergency that most leaders are content remain discussing in private. He was excelling beyond the expectations of someone in his position, which, if things are ever to improve, is exactly what the crisis in Darfur demands from any diplomat, and exactly what Khartoum categorically opposes. His actions are similar to dialing 911 for help but the Sudanese government is handling Mr. Pronk as if he were a delinquent calling in prank bomb threats to the Khartoum airport.

The unofficial reason that Pronk is being evicted from his office and ejected from Sudan is because he represents the institution that symbolizes Western influence and has created a lot of unwanted attention regarding president Omar al-Bashir's handling of the Darfur crisis, not that al-Bashir's popularity has suffered at home. The U.N., backed by several world leaders, has repeatedly offered 20,000 blue helmets worth of assistance to replace the poorly equipped AU force of 7,000 which would certainly curtail at least some of the bloodletting, rape and murder, reducing the running totals that have been racked up over three years by the rebels, Sudanese armed forces and the government-sponsored janjaweed militia.