SUDAN:A senior aid worker was due to arrive in Kenya this morning after being expelled from Sudan.
Paul Barker, Sudan country director for Care International, was told his work permit would not be renewed at the weekend - the latest in a string of expulsions of foreign officials.
Yesterday, newspapers in Khartoum carried quotes from anonymous government officials accusing Mr Barker of "fabricating reports on the security situation in Darfur". The claims were dismissed by other humanitarian workers as smears.
"This is the sort of thing that Khartoum does when it wants to get rid of someone and remind the international community who's boss," said an aid worker in Sudan, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Before leaving Sudan, Mr Barker said he had not been given any reason for his sudden expulsion. But he said he believed it might be related to a staff safety assessment he circulated within the organisation last year.
The document set out various scenarios that could unfold in Darfur and how Care would respond to such scenarios.
Care president Helene Gayle said: "We are concerned that Paul may have been asked to leave because of the government's interpretation of internal communications that are standard within non-governmental organisations regarding safety procedures for staff."
There are about 12,300 aid workers in the war-torn western province of Darfur, including 900 foreign aid workers. They supply food, medicine and water to more than four million people, including two million living in aid camps.
The Sudanese government has been quick to expel individuals or investigate agencies they believe are engaged in "political activities". This can include publishing reports critical of the government's role in the Darfur conflict, helping journalists visit the region, or publicising human-rights abuses.
Agency phones are bugged and Sudanese members of staff are pressured into handing over internal documents to the security services.
In April, another Care staff-member was forced to leave Khartoum after an internal security assessment found its way into government hands.
Last week Sudan expelled the most senior Canadian diplomat in the state and told the EU its envoy would not be allowed to remain in the country once he had completed the remaining three weeks of his current term in office.