June 7, 2009 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudanese president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir has fired his press adviser after an interview attributed to him was published without his knowledge, a news report said.
The London based Al-Sharq Al-Awsat quoting “knowledgeable sources” said that Bashir read an interview with him published in Al-Hurra newspaper upon his return from Libya last month.
Al-Bashir reportedly got upset and asked presidential affairs minister Bakri Hassan Saleh to file a complaint against Al-Hurra since he has no recollection of being interviewed by the newspaper and has no knowledge of it.
Saleh conducted an investigation and found out that Bashir’s press secretary Mahjoub Badri received question from the newspaper and answered it himself without showing it to the president as in line with the customary procedure in this case.
Bashir then told Saleh that he does not want to deal with his press secretary in this position after today, the newspaper said.
However Badri told Al-Sharq Al-Awsat that he is on vacation and has not received any notification on his status but confirmed that another replacement has been appointed for him.
Badri who held the position since 2003, accused “enemies of success” of standing behind the incident and defended his record in his position.
“I am a soldier ready for orders…If the president orders to be a janitor at his door I will do it….I am not looking for positions” he said.
The newspaper said that publishing interviews of the president goes through a rigorous process in coordination with the newspaper and is subject to editing before it is finally authorized for publication.
Badri was a subject of controversy in Turkey last year when he entered Mustafa Kemal Ataturk’s mausoleum with Bashir wearing a rain hood in a violation of the protocol.
However, Badri later apologized saying he did not intend to show any disrespect.
(ST)
حركة العدل و المساواة السودانية
موقع متخصص بنقل آخر الأخبار و البيانات و القرارات لحركة العدل و المساواة السودانية