UN envoy prepares Sudan exit after expulsion

Reuters report via ST - UN envoy prepares Sudan exit after expulsion - excerpt:

Described by a U.N. source as "somewhat bemused" Pronk cancelled his travel plans for the rest of the week and will head to New York on Monday following a summons from U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan. He will not return.

Some observers questioned whether the expulsion was little more than political theater because Pronk, as Annan's political appointee, was likely to lose his position when Annan left the world body at the end of the year.

"Mr. Pronk ... his period is nearly finished so it is more political maneuver than genuine political action from the government," said el-Bagir.

Others said Pronk himself may have made a political move to "go out with a bang." Only three months earlier Pronk had similar problems with comments he wrote on his blog that changes needed to be made to the Darfur peace deal, signed in May by only one of three negotiating rebel factions.

"He is very savvy. He must have known what the government's reaction would be to this," said one diplomat who declined to be named. One U.N. source said Pronk had already been warned by U.N. headquarters in New York about his blog."

I loved Jan Pronk's blog and photos. I wonder what his next blog entry will say! I hope he waves a two fingered goodbye to Khartoum, when he's safely in the air.