Sudan embassy in U.S. closes in protest

KHARTOUM, Sudan, Aug 25, 2004 (UPI) — The Sudanese foreign ministry decided to close Sudan’s embassy in Washington this week to protest a U.S. bank’s refusal to deal with it.

A ministry statement said the bank reneged on a previous commitment to open an account for the embassy, delaying payments for the mission’s employees and for services such as electricity and telephone bills.

It said the ministry will give U.S. authorities a deadline for settling the issue before further escalating its protest.

The ministry said it is the responsibility of the host governments to facilitate the operations of foreign missions.