As Sudan Pulls US & UK Diplomats from UN Helicopter, Raising of Stakes?

By Matthew Russell Lee, Exclusive

UNITED NATIONS, June 16, updated -- When a UN Mission in Sudan helicopter landed in White Nile state, the Sudanese government took a US and a UK diplomat off the plane.

As described to Inner City Press by a spokesman for the UK Mission to the UN, the Sudanese authorities said they had not been notified of the flight and therefore questioned its purpose and passenger list.

Inner City Press asked US Ambassador Susan Rice about a “US diplomat arrested in Sudan.” She said, “I don't think that's the right word,” and went into the Security Council for a closed door meeting about violence involving the Sudanese Armed Forces and militias and tribes they support.

Asked if this detention should been as a raising of the stakes by Khartoum, the UK Spokesman told Inner City Press no. He could not name another time that Sudanese authorities have similarly questioned the use of UNMIS facilities by UK diplomats, but posited that the issue was more that the UNMIS helicopter had not given notice of its landing in Magennes than the identity of the passengers.