Sudan imposes restrictions on US diplomats

KHARTOUM, March 17 (AFP) — Sudan announced Thursday that it had imposed restrictions on the movement of US diplomats, in what it said was retaliation for similar measures ordered by Washington.

Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail.

Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail said US diplomats would in future be required to obtain prior authorisation to travel more than 25 kilometres (16 miles) from the presidential palace in Khartoum.

He said the decision had been taken by the government a week ago and that the restriction had been stamped in the diplomatic passport of the incoming US charge d’affaires.

The tit-for-tat moves come amid a mounting war of words between Sudan and the United States.

Earlier this month, a senior Sudanese security official accused the US embassy of carrying out “hostile activities” against the Khartoum regime.

“The American embassy in Khartoum leads hostile activities against the Sudan,” Brigadier Hassan al-Umdah told a seminar without elaborating.

His comments came just days after the US State Department issued a stark warning to Khartoum over its failure to rein in government-sponsored militias blamed for a reign of terror in the western region of Darfur.

Washington has said that the government’s scorched earth campaign against ethnic minorities suspected of supporting a two-year-old rebellion in Darfur amounts to genocide and has spearheaded calls for UN sanctions.