Sudan voices concerns over accused nationals in Iraq

KHARTOUM, Mar 7, 2005 (Xinhua) — Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Ismail said on Monday that his government was concerned about the security situation of its nationals in Iraq who were arrested on charges of slaughter.

In a video image taken from Al-Iraqiya television alleged insurgent Adam Omar, a Sudanese citizen from al-Fashir, Sudan, who lived in Iraq for the past 15 years, states that he led a group of insurgents called Liberation Army, went to Syria and spent time in a training camp located on the Syrian Iraqi border, as part of his televised confession, in Iraq Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2005. (AP).

The remarks came after local press reported that dozens of Sudanese nationals were detained in Baghdad last week on charges by the Iraqi government of involvement in slaughtering people there.

Ismail said the government would refuse the act of holding the innocent and would work for the return of its nationals if they asked.

He said the government had contacted the Iraqi government, urging it to respect the Sudanese nationals in Iraq.

“What the Sudanese government will not accept is the reflection of this limited crime against the existence of the Sudanese community in Iraq and that was what we talked about with the authority in Iraq,” Ismail said.

“If we find the Sudanese nationals in Iraq insecure, we will handle it by returning them to their country,” he said.

The official said the government had ordered its embassy in Iraq to coordinate and cooperate with the Sudanese community on the issue.