U.S. denied Sudan minister visa for U.N. meeting: envoy
April 22, 2016 (KHARTOUM) – The United States has refused to issue an entry visa to Sudanese Interior Minister Ismat Abdel Rahman Zein al-Abdin to participate in a United Nations meeting, Sudan’s UN Mission said on Friday.
Sudanese Ambassador to the United Nations Omer Dahab disclosed in statement issued on Friday that the host country didn’t grant an entry visa to the head of Sudan’s delegation to the special summit on illegal drugs.
Dahab further regretted that the visa denial prevented their participation at this important international forum held eight years after the failure of last conference on global war on illegal drugs in 1998.
It was not clear whether the alleged visa denial was related to the Sudanese government’s record on human rights and the ongoing armed conflict in South Kordofan and Blue Nile states.
From June 2010 to June 2013 Zein al-Abdin was the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff of the Sudan Armed Forces but he is not under international sanctions.
The UN special three-day session discussed the efficiency of the punitive approach and if an international consensus can be reached on a new anti-drug strategy based on human rights and public health rather than repression.
However, some Asian countries like China, Thailand, Iran and Russia were among the strongest opponents of the trend toward decriminalizing illegal substances.
Ambassador Dahab presented Sudan’s position on the illegal drugs, stressing that development projects should be considered in the war against the drugs. Further he stressed Sudan commitment to the existing three drug control conventions.
According to the statement, the Sudanese delegation also participated in a round-table on new challenges, threats and realities in addressing the world drug problem in compliance with relevant international law.
(ST)