Sudan tells UN envoy to leave in 72 hours

The Sudanese foreign ministry gave Jan Pronk, special representative of UN Secretary General Kofi Annan in Sudan three days to leave the country, the official SUNA news agency reported on Sunday.

"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs ends the mission of Jan Pronk in Sudan and gives him 72 hours to leave the country," SUNA said in an urgent report.

Last Thursday, the Sudanese army announced that Jan Pronk, the UN special envoy in Sudan, was "not welcomed in this country for his flagrant interference in the army's affairs."

The Sudanese side also accused the UN top envoy in Sudan of launching a psychological war on the Sudanese army by spreading fabricated false information doubting the army's capability to maintain the security and stability of the country.

Pronk wrote in his personal blog last week that the Sudanese army had lost two major battles in Darfur, one in Umm Sidir last month and the other in Karakaya earlier this month, and suffered heavy casualties.

"The morale in the government army in North Darfur has gone down. Some generals have been sacked; soldiers have refused fighting," said Pronk in his blog.

Source: Xinhua