September 10, 2007
“You will take pictures of the wall”
Great story in the Sudan Tribune about a mix-up between Sudanese protocol officers, the press and U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon at Khartoun airport.
UN chief’s embarrassing moments at Khartoum airportSeptember 8, 2007 (KHARTOUM) — U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and his entourage faced a chaotic situation at Khartoum airport during his visit to Sudan last week.
Salah Al-Maleeh, a reporter with the daily Al-Sudani newspaper, reported that before Ban Ki-Moon traveled to Juba, capital of South Sudan, he was due to hold a press conference at Khartoum airport upon his request, to brief reporters on his meeting with the Sudanese president Omar Al-Bashir.
Reporters and cameramen filled the area around the VIP lounge at the airport waiting for the UN chief to come out.
However Ali Karti, Sudanese Minister of State at the Sudanese Foreign Ministry, who was the ranking Sudanese official at the airport, asked the protocol officer to clear the area from reporters.
But the reporters supported by UN officers, refused to comply with Karti’s orders. The protocol officer then notified Karti and came back to tell reporters that Ban Ki-Moon will be moved to a different lounge and will then proceed immediately to the plane.
“You will take pictures of the wall” the protocol officer said before locking the reporters up and closing the door leading to the VIP lounge. The UN Chief was seen through the glass walls walking along with Sudanese officials being escorted to a different lounge.
Posted by aheavens at September 10, 2007 9:01 AM
Comments
And I assume he said it with a straight face :-)
Posted by: T. Yossef at September 11, 2007 8:32 PM
Good article.
But i just wanted to comment on a different article you wrote, the one about "beeping" that i saw on yahoo.
calling someone on their cell phones and leaving a missed call so u save minutes b/c the other person is calling you back, it's not something new!
its been happening for years, at least 7 years!!!
that is what many people do living in london or parts of asia! that's how they save money.
it just annoyed me that it is considered a new thing when it's not!!!
maybe u should have researched it a little more bud.
Posted by: cameron at September 28, 2007 3:17 PM