Khartoum – Sudan snubbed newly appointed United States presidential diplomat Andrew Natsios on his arrival in Khartoum on Friday for his first visit since taking up his post, said security officials.
No foreign ministry representative turned up at the airport to welcome Natsios as normally demanded by protocol, said officials who blocked an AFP correspondent from reaching the airport terminal. The snub was intended as “reciprocal treatment” for Washington’s attitude towards the Khartoum authorities, said the officials without elaborating.The US administration, which had already complained of restrictions imposed on its diplomats travelling outside the Sudanese capital, had expressed concern about Khartoum’s willingness to co-operate with its new envoy.Natsios is hoping to visit the war-torn western region of Darfur and the newly autonomous south during his six-day visit, aides told reporters in Washington before his departure.Sudanese officials would confirm only a planned meeting with foreign minister Lam Akol on Saturday.The minister is a representative of the former southern rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Movement in the national unity government established by a January 2005 peace deal.Nampa-SapaThe snub was intended as “reciprocal treatment” for Washington’s attitude towards the Khartoum authorities, said the officials without elaborating.The US administration, which had already complained of restrictions imposed on its diplomats travelling outside the Sudanese capital, had expressed concern about Khartoum’s willingness to co-operate with its new envoy.Natsios is hoping to visit the war-torn western region of Darfur and the newly autonomous south during his six-day visit, aides told reporters in Washington before his departure.Sudanese officials would confirm only a planned meeting with foreign minister Lam Akol on Saturday.The minister is a representative of the former southern rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Movement in the national unity government established by a January 2005 peace deal.Nampa-Sapa
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