Swedish minister cancels Darfur trip because not welcome

Mar 29, 2006 (ASTOCKHOLM) — Sweden’s acting foreign minister said Wednesday she canceled a trip to Sudan’s troubled Darfur region after a governor there said she wasn’t welcome, citing Sweden’s role in the Prophet Muhammad cartoon controversy.

Carin Jamtin, who arrived in Sudan Tuesday, said she was surprised at the statement and suggested the real reason was Western pressure to send U.N. peacekeepers to Darfur.

Jamtin told Swedish public radio, SR, in Khartoum that she believed the governor’s statement wasn’t directed toward Sweden, “but rather against U.N. forces, against an international presence and a fear among the leadership for this part of the country of what would happen with a stronger international presence and possible U.N. troops.”

SR reported that the governor of the city of Al Fashir had said Jamtin wasn’t welcome because a Swedish far-right group had published Prophet Muhammad cartoons, which originated in neighboring Denmark, and that the government hadn’t apologized.

In fact, the Swedish government issued a public apology to Muslims for the offense caused by the cartoons, and the Web site that published them and also solicited new drawings was promptly shut down.

Foreign Ministry spokesman John Zanchi declined to reveal details of the governor’s statement.

“All we can say is that a governor has said that it is the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad this month and therefore it is ill-timed that a Swedish representative will go (to Darfur)” Zanchi said.

“It is our assessment that we should be on the safe side. The security situation does not allow her to go there,” he added.

Jamtin was on a two-day visit to Sudan. She had planned to inspect the humanitarian situation in Darfur, where at least 180,000 people have died – many from hunger and disease – and about 2 million others have fled their homes to escape a conflict between rebels and pro-government militia.

Jamtin is acting foreign minister until recently appointed Jan Eliasson takes the job in April. The former foreign minister, Laila Freivalds, stepped down last week amid criticism over her role in the closing of the far-right Web site that published the cartoons.

(ST/AP)