Sudanese minister says UK “inflated” incident of national arrested at Heathrow
By Akhbar al- Yawm daily newspaper
KHARTOUM, Jan 16, 2004 — The Sudanese government yesterday asked the British authorities to deal with the case of the Sudanese national arrested in Heathrow airport the day before yesterday, by respecting the man’s rights and dignity.
The government yesterday asked the British ambassador in Khartoum, to supply any extra information on the case, in addition to that provided by British sources.
In a press statement following his meeting with the UK peace envoy, Alan Goulty, and the British ambassador in Khartoum, William Pattey, the minister of external relations, Dr Mustafa Uthman Isma’il, criticized the way British sources had reported the incident, saying that they had inflated it dramatically.
Dr Mustafa said British sources had blown up the incident out of all proportion before the matter was ascertained and clarified.
He said the Sudanese national did not carry weapons but approximately 7 rounds of ammunition and it has still not been ascertained whether these were live or dud or whether they were toy bullets, and the incident had been magnified out of all proportion.
BBC Monitoring Newsfile