UNDIPLOMATIC

by RAY FLEMING
WHATEVER happened to discretion and diplomacy? Jan Pronk is a widely experienced former Dutch cabinet minister who most recently has been serving as the senior representative of the United Nations in Sudan. Not the easiest of jobs just at the moment, obviously, but Mr Pronk seems to have made it even more difficult than it needs to be. Of late Mr Pronk, who has a reputation for outspokenness, has been in the habit of committing his views on the state of affairs in Sudan to a “personal” blog (www.janpronk.nl). One recent edition included Mr Pronk's opinion that the Sudanese armed forces had suffered two major defeats at the hands of rebels in Darfur, and that generals had been dismissed, morale had sunk and the government had collaborated with the feared janjaweek Arab militias. When this blog came to the notice of the government of Sudan it said that Mr Pronk had demonstrated “enmity to the Sudanese government and armed forces” and that consequently he should leave Sudan by tomorrow. Just as with ambassadors, the representative of the UN in any country must be acceptable to that country. Mr Pronk, it seems, is persona non grata. The UN has taken the line that the blog contained only Mr Pronk's “personal views” but the reality is that in the position he occupied he should not have been writing for public consumption. The UN has problems enough in the Sudan without its senior representative adding to them.