Sudan expels EU, Canadian diplomats

KHARTOUM (AFP) - Sudan has expelled the European Commission envoy and the Canadian charge d'affaires for "interfering in its affairs," the official SUNA news agency reported yesterday.

"Sudan has summoned the envoy of the European Commission and the Canadian charge d'affaires and informed them they were considered persona non grata because they interfered in Sudanese affairs," foreign ministry spokesman Ali al-Sadek told SUNA.

The exact reasons for their expulsion were not immediately clear.

Sadek, who did not identify the diplomats, said Sudan was working hard not to let the incident hamper relations with the European Union or Canada.

Khartoum has often had strained relations with Western diplomats.

In October 2006, it expelled UN envoy Jan Pronk for criticising its actions in the troubled region of Darfur.

The war in the western Sudanese region erupted in February 2003 when rebels from minority tribes took up arms to demand an equal share of national resources, prompting a heavyhanded crackdown from the government forces and proxy militia.

According to UN estimates, at least 200,000 people have been killed and more than two million displaced by the combined effect of war and famine since the conflict erupted.