Canada to expel Sudan diplomat in tit-for-tat move
August 29, 2007 (OTTAWA) — A Sudanese diplomat will be expelled from Canada within days in response to the Khartoum government’s decision to kick out Canada’s acting charge d’affaires, Canada’s foreign ministry said Tuesday.
The Foreign Affairs Department said the Sudanese diplomat, who has yet to be identified, will be ordered to leave the country as of Sept. 1. Ministry officials said the diplomat would hold a similar rank to Nuala Lawlor, whom the Sudanese government accused of “meddling in its affairs.”
“Canada considers the expulsion of our charge d’affaires to be entirely unjustified. Wherever they are posted, Canada’s diplomats will continue to work to uphold Canadian values of freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law,” Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier said in a statement.
Along with Lawlor, Sudan had also declared persona non grata the European Union’s top diplomat in the country, also citing “meddling” in its affairs. But the government later said it would allow Kent Degerfelt to complete the remaining three weeks of his mandate as long as he was replaced by someone new.
On Monday, Sudan also ordered out of the country the head of CARE International’s operations in Sudan. No reason was given for the CARE official’s expulsion, but the group had been directing one of the largest private aid efforts in the Darfur region.
Sudan has faced mounting criticism in the face of violence in Darfur, where 200,000 people have died since 2003 in fighting that began when ethnic African rebels took up arms against the central, Arab-dominated government, accusing it of discrimination.
The government is accused of unleashing the janjaweed militia in response – a force allegedly behind some of the worst atrocities against civilians in the region where another 2.5 million have been displaced by fighting.
Stung by criticism, Sudan has taken a hard line against what it says is interference in its internal affairs by outsiders.
After much resistance, the Khartoum government agreed to a U.N.-African Union hybrid force of 26,000 peacekeepers which is intended replace a beleaguered A.U. force of 6,000 in the region by the year’s end.
Canada has already cut off bilateral aid to the Sudanese government and ensures that its aid money flows through the AU mission in that country.
Since 2004 Canada has committed approximately $441 million Canadian (US$415 million) toward humanitarian assistance, peacebuilding projects, reconstruction efforts and support for the African Union Mission in Sudan, making it the fourth-largest donor to the mission.
(AP)