Sudan to appoint new envoy to the United Nations
May 8, 2010 (KHARTOUM) — The Sudanese government has relocated its ambassador to the United Nations (UN) Abdel-Mahmood Abdel-Haleem in a surprise move after his tenure was extended on an exceptional basis last March by president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir.
The newspaper hailed the achievements of the outgoing envoy saying he managed to frustrate efforts by countries hostile to Sudan in the world body and those by the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo.
Last February, the pro-SPLM Ajras Al-Hurriya newspaper quoted an unidentified Sudanese foreign ministry official as saying that Abdel-Haleem’s retirement is “normal” and in line with the law.
But later, the pro-government Akhbar Al-Youm newspaper said that Bashir reinstated Abdel-Haleem along with two other ambassadors who are past retirement age including Abdul-Hafiz Ibrahim as Sudan’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia and Abdel-Rahman Dirar as Sudan’s ambassador to Syria.
The candidate for the UN job worked before at the Sudan mission in the world body and as an envoy to Bangladesh and Pakistan as well as head of the International Organizations in the foreign ministry.
In recent months a number of Sudanese columnists including those writing in pro-government newspapers has fiercely criticized his performance saying it has tainted Sudan’s image and alienated many countries at the world body.
Abdel-Haleem is well known for his less than diplomatic style and unconventional choice of words. He is also famous for his verbal target of the ICC who has managed to secure an arrest warrant for the Sudanese president.
“Mr. Ocampo, you are not welcome in this place. You abuse the image of the United Nations,” Abdel-Haleem told reporters in June 2009 following Ocampo’s briefing and described him as a “mercenary”.
“Your dreams of publicity and media should come to an end also,” he said.
In one instance the Sudanese ambassador called Costa Rica a “banana republic” because of its support to the ICC.
The Costa Rican envoy to the UN Jorge Urbina responded saying that his country has a far higher ranking than Sudan in the United Nations Development Programme human development index.
(ST)
julius mowanga
Sudan to appoint new envoy to the United Nations
This diplomat has crossed the diplomatic protocols merits,several times as if it’s a new habbit of extremism of the country he represent.I also don’t doubt that he is a” JAALI” as Omer Bashir,they are foolishly stubborn to the limit,they can go against their own people interests if it came to their personal image.
The other issue that implicated Mr; Abdel Mahmoud ,that SPLM/A wasn’t granted a member seat as an Opserver even in the UN,similir to Palestine’s PLO and the Polisario Movement ofthe Western Sahara.Therefor letting him continue on this deficency of professionalism manner ,definitely he will jeoperdizes the CPA and the internetional ciommunity perspective of the coming referendum of the South Sudan.
Mr; Nasr Eldin Ahmed Wali, is more capable to carry this post,as he handled the Northern America Polices Department of the ministry of the foreign affairs .