Sudanese rough up newswoman

Andrea Mitchell said she felt angry and humiliated after Sudanese bodyguards dragged her out of a room Thursday for questioning President Omar el-Bashir about his involvement in the country’s violence.

Large, gun-toting guards painfully wrenched the 5-foot-3 Mitchell’s arm behind her. She was freed after U.S. officials accompanying Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice complained.

Mitchell, NBC News’ diplomatic correspondent, was part of a press contingent following Rice on her visit to the war-torn African country. Sudanese officials already didn’t want her there. Mitchell said she was shoved as she entered a room where Rice and el-Bashir were posing for pictures. Reporters were allowed in only at the State Department’s insistence, and were told not to ask questions.

Mitchell, in a telephone interview after leaving a Sudanese refugee camp and arriving in Israel, said that attitude emboldened her.

“It makes me even more determined when dictators and alleged war criminals are not held to account,” she said. “If our government is going to establish a relationship and push for a new beginning as Sudan reforms itself, they have to live up to international standards. A free press is part of that process.”