Rice angry over Sudanese scuffle - Thursday, July 21, 2005; Posted: 6:53 a.m. EDT (10:53 GMT)
KHARTOUM, Sudan (CNN) -- U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is demanding an immediate apology from the Sudanese government after authorities manhandled staff members and journalists traveling with her.
Aboard her plane, which was heading to a Darfur refugee camp from Khartoum, Rice told journalists the Sudanese had no right to manhandle them or members of her staff and said it made her "very angry" that she was sitting with Sudanese President Omar el-Bashir while the incident took place.
While Rice and el-Bashir were meeting, journalists were taken inside in groups to see the meeting for a photo opportunity.
At first, only Sudanese journalists, not those from the United States, were allowed in.
Later, U.S. journalists were allowed access in two separate groups. In the first group, authorities pulled one journalist's microphone out of her tape recorder.
Afterward, Sudanese officials came and apologized to the media. But when a journalist in the second group attempted to ask a question, she was pulled away and authorities intended to kick her out.
CNN's Andrea Koppel said journalists and Rice's staff members were "pushed and pulled" in attempts to keep them out of the meeting.
One of Rice's aides eventually said, "We have a free press in the U.S.," and a Sudanese official responded, "Well, we don't here," Koppel reported.
