UNMIS calls upon Al-Raed to correct flagrant misreporting

From UN.org 1 March 2009:
Media report about UN envoy in Sudan 'complete fabrication,' declares mission

The United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) has strongly protested a report in today's Al-Raed newspaper alleging that Special Representative Ashraf Qazi admitted that the Mission provided information about the country to the International Criminal Court.



Photo: Ashraf Qazi

“The report is a complete fabrication,” the Mission said in a statement issued in Khartoum, referring to the report headlined 'Qazi admits UNMIS provided information to the ICC about Sudan.'

According to UNMIS, the Al-Raed report is a distortion of a recently published Egyptian magazine article, entitled 'I did not provide the ICC with reports on Al-Bashir-SRSG.'

The Mission questioned Al-Raed's motive in misrepresenting Mr. Qazi, the Secretary-General's Special Representative for Sudan and head of UNMIS, on so sensitive an issue at this particular time.

The International Criminal Court is due to announce its decision on the application for an arrest warrant against Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir on charges of war crimes in Darfur on 4 March.

“UNMIS calls upon Al-Raed to correct this flagrant example of misreporting which, in the Mission's view, verges on disinformation,” the statement said.

The Mission added that it has repeatedly urged media to uphold standard journalistic practices and to check with the UNMIS Spokesperson's Office when reporting on UNMIS-related matters.