The Sudanese army said on Thursday that Jan Pronk, the special representative of the UN Secretary General Koffi Annan in Sudan, was not welcomed. In a statement, the High Command of the Sudanese Armed Forces condemned that "the fragrant interference of Pronk in the Sudanese army's affairs which is equivalent to a war against the army".

It stressed that "Pronk's existence and his movements, including his contacts with the rebels and his visits without the Sudanese government's approval, constitute a military danger which has negatively affected the army's work."

The statement also accused the UN top envoy in Sudan of launching a psychological war on the Sudanese army by spreading fabricated false information doubting the army's capability to maintain the security and stability of the country.

Meanwhile, a retired army officer Lieutenant General Mohammedal-Bashir Suleiman told the official SUNA news agency that Pronk's recent remarks on the Sudanese army had "obviously overpassed its authority and responsibility", calling on the government to take firm steps to expel Pronk from Sudan.

Pronk wrote in his personal weblog on Saturday that the Sudanese army had lost two major battles in Darfur, one in Umm Sidir last month and the other in Karakaya last week, and suffered heavy casualties.

The Sudanese army was probably receiving support from Chadian rebels on Sudanese soil, while the Darfurian rebel groups were supported by the Chadian authorities, he added.

(Xinhua News Agency October 20, 2006)