American Reporter Imprisoned in Darfur

Sept. 1, 2006 — -- The employers of a Pulitzer Prize-winning American journalist currently awaiting trial in Sudan have reacted with cautious hope to comments Thursday by the country's president, Omar al-Bashir.

Paul Salopek, a Chicago Tribune reporter freelancing for the National Geographic, was arrested in Sudan's embattled Darfur region on Aug. 6.

Among the charges against him are entering the country illegally, writing false news, and espionage.

His driver and interpreter, citizens of Chad, a neighboring country, were also arrested.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State, Jendayi Frazer, said to reporters Thursday that she had raised the matter during her Tuesday meeting with Bashir.

She said the Sudanese president had promised "to look into it as a humanitarian gesture."

Chicago Tribune Editor Anne Marie Lipinski responded that she was "encouraged" by this statement, but noted the Tribune was "increasingly concerned about [Salopek's] health and well-being."

National Geographic Editor in Chief Chris Johns stated that if the Sudanese government looked into Salopek's case "from a humanitarian perspective," it would find that "he is innocent of all criminal charges."

The State Department has said only that it wants to see Salopek given "a speedy and fair trial."

A senior American official speaking on the condition of anonymity, however, said to ABC News that while it was possible there might be "some technical violation" of Sudan's visa regulations, the espionage-related charges were "totally out there."

Frazer said she had stated as much to Bashir: "My point was: He is a journalist. He's not a spy."

With the Sudanese government growing increasingly leery of western coverage of the Darfur humanitarian crisis, it is possible the charges are partially intended as a warning to other journalists.

Alex Meixner, policy coordinator of the private Save Darfur Coalition, said he "would expect to see similar actions against journalists" in the future.

The situation in Darfur, where a government-backed militia, the Janjaweed, is in violent conflict with the ethnic, regional population, has been denounced by the United States as genocide.

On Aug. 30, the U.N. Security Council adopted a resolution to introduce U.N. control over African peacekeeping forces already in the region, and expand their numbers, in an effort to halt the violence there.

The Sudanese government has reportedly denounced these plans and also has launched further military offensives in Darfur.

Salopek has worked for the Chicago Tribune since 1996.

His first Pulitzer was awarded in 1998, for his coverage of the Human Genome Diversity Project.

His 2001 Pulitzer was awarded for his coverage of another African conflict, the Congo civil war.