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 كندا ترفض الإعتذار للسودان وتعلق برامج التنمية!!!
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OTTAWA — Canada pulled its top diplomat out of Sudan Sunday and refused to issue a formal apology after Nuala Lawlor was declared “persona non grata” in the African country for coming to the aid of opposition politicians.
Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier said Lawlor was “acting in the finest traditions of Canadian diplomacy and was standing up for our values of freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law in Sudan.”
“Canada condemns the Government of Sudan’s decision to expel the charge d’affaires as this expulsion is entirely unjustified, and there is no question of Canada issuing an apology,” Bernier said Sunday in a statement.
Canada’s refusal to back down was in stark contrast to the actions of the European Commission, whose envoy, Kent Degerfelt of Sweden, was permitted to stay in Sudan after the European development commission, Louis Michel, apologized Saturday to Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir.
Lawlor was instructed to leave Khartoum on Sunday, said Bernier, who had spoken earlier in the day with Sudan’s Foreign Minister, Lam Akol and “conveyed Canada’s strong concern about Sudan’s decision to expel Canada’s charge d’affaires.”
Canada was scrambling to decide how to react after Sudan confirmed Saturday that Degerfelt would be able to continue until the end of his term, which is soon to expire.
The Foreign Affairs Department refused to comment on the matter all weekend, until Bernier issued his statement Sunday afternoon.
Media spokeswoman Catherine Gagnaire said she could not confirm several news reports, quoting high-level officials, that Lawlor and Degerfelt were expelled because they interfered in Sudan’s internal affairs by pushing for the release of two opposition leaders who were recently arrested over an alleged coup attempt.
In an interview on French radio Saturday, Michel confirmed that Degerfelt had been expelled for a mistake in protocol for failing to go through the presidency or the foreign ministry before expressing concerns over the human rights situation in Sudan, Agence France Press reported.
The diplomats were summoned separately to the Sudanese Foreign Ministry and given expulsion notices last Thursday.
The expulsion is the latest irritant in relations between Sudan and Canada, which pledged earlier this month to add another $48 million in aid through the African Union’s mission in Sudan for humanitarian assistance, peace-building projects and reconstruction efforts, bringing the total over the past four years to more than $400 million.
The Canadian Foreign Affairs Department, on its website, reports that “in response to the deteriorating human rights and humanitarian situation in Sudan, Canada suspended its government-to-government development program.”
Canada also banned the sale of all military equipment to Sudan and the government does not promote commercial activity in the northeast African country.
Since 2003, fighting between rebel and militia groups has killed more than 200,000 people in the region, and left more than two million people homeless, according to the United Nations. The Sudanese government is accused of supporting the militia, known as the Janjaweed, and doing little to end the conflict.
Canada, along with other Western countries, has been critical of the Sudanese government, saying it has taken unhelpful and hostile positions toward the international community.
In October 2006
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Wasil Ali
Tragie Mustafa
Adil Osman
فيس بوك
تويتر
انستقرام
يوتيوب
بنتيريست