Sudanese Security Assaults Rice Staff, Journalists
Charles Johnson
Thu Jul 21, 2005 at 7:37 am PDT • Views: 296
US fury as Sudan manhandles staff.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has demanded and received an apology after US officials and journalists were manhandled by Sudanese security staff.
The incidents happened as Ms Rice met President Omar al-Beshir at his Khartoum residence.
Reporters and some US officials were initially prevented from entering the meeting room by security staff.Those who then tried to ask questions about the troubled Darfur region of Sudan were forcibly removed. Attempts were made to seize the tape recorder of at least one journalist.
Speaking after the incidents at the presidential palace, Ms Rice demanded an apology.
“It makes me very angry to be sitting with their president and have this happen,” she told reporters. “They had no right to manhandle my staff and the press.”
State department spokesman Sean McCormack later said that Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail had telephoned Ms Rice “apologising for the treatment of our delegation and the press corps accompanying the secretary”.
And Ambassador Khidair Haroun Ahmed, head of the Sudanese mission in Washington, said: “Please accept our apologies. This is not our policy.”
Frank says: