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SUDAN: 2 U.S. JOURNALISTS BRIEFLY DETAINED NEAR CHAD February 11, 2006
Apunyu Bonny
(SomaliNet) Two U.S. journalists and their Chadian translator were on Friday briefly detained by Sudan near the Chad border, in the tension-flared area over the recent weeks. Reuters reported.
"We were detained for questioning for about ... four hours. We are now across the border in Chad and are making our way to Adre," New York Times journalist Lydia Polgreen, told Reuters.
Polgreen was traveling with a photographer and translator. The photographer was identified as Michael Kamber. "She's acknowledged that they were treated well," New York Times spokesman Toby Usnik reported.
Foreign media coverage in Darfur has always been handled under strict policies by Sudanese authorities. Foreign journalists have previously been detained there. They are usually held only for a few hours before being released without charge. Meanwhile tensions flared between Sudan and Chad after Chadian rebels attacked the Chadian town of Adre in December. Chad accuses Sudan of backing the rebels.
Chad has similarly received accusations from Sudan of backing Sudanese rebels in its western Darfur region, where a three year rebellion against the Khartoum government has made 2 million people homeless and sparked a humanitarian crisis.
Sudanese President, Omar Hassan al-Bashir and Chadian President Idriss Deby on Wednesday agreed to end their dispute after talks in the Libyan capital Tripoli.