Sudan to free US reporter, Richardson says

Washington, Sept 9: Sudan will free U S reporter Paul Salopek, who was arrested early last month and charged with espionage, and allow him to return to the United States, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson said.

Richardson yesterday said he secured the release of Salopek, a Chicago Tribune correspondent who lives in New Mexico, and two colleagues from Chad during talks in Khartoum with President Omar Hassan al-Bashir.

''I am pleased to report that our negotiations were successful and Paul Salopek will return home to New Mexico with me,'' Richardson said in a statement released by his New Mexico office.

He said Sudanese authorities agreed to release the men on humanitarian grounds. Salopek, a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner who was in Sudan on assignment for National Geographic magazine, was arrested after he crossed from Chad into Sudan's war-torn Darfur region without a visa.

''The successful end to this unfortunate episode is a victory for journalism and a free press,'' Richardson said.

''Most important, these three men will return home safely to be with their families, friends and colleagues who were relentless in their appeals to have them freed,'' he said.

Richardson, a former congressman and U S ambassador to the United Nations, began negotiating for Salopek's release after an appeal from Tribune Editor Ann Marie Lipinski and Salopek's wife, Linda Lynch. He went to Khartoum at the invitation of Sudan.

Richardson, a potential presidential contender in 2008, negotiated the release of another New Mexico resident and two Red Cross workers held hostage in Sudan by Sudanese rebels in 1996.

''When I talked to Paul from his detention in El Fasher shortly after President al-Bashir's decision, Paul told me he was 'dancing in the moonlight,''' Lipinski said. ''He also conveyed his deep gratitude to everyone who has worked so hard these last few weeks to free him.'' Lynch expressed gratitude to al-Bashir and thanked Richardson ''for his remarkable compassion.''

REUTERS