N.M. Governor Persuades Sudan to Free Reporter
New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson secured the release of Chicago Tribune foreign correspondent Paul Salopek and his Chadian driver and interpreter on humanitarian grounds after a 45-minute meeting Friday with Sudanese President Omar Hassan Ahmed Bashir.
Richardson said Salopek, a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner, is to be released into his custody today in El Fasher, capital of North Darfur state, where Salopek and the two others had been awaiting trial on charges of espionage, passing information illegally and printing false news, as well as entering the country without visas.
Salopek, 44, was on a leave of absence from the Tribune and on a freelance assignment for National Geographic magazine.
In a telephone interview from Khartoum, Richardson said he planned to fly this morning to El Fasher. He said the Chadians would be repatriated.
“I am deeply grateful to President Al Bashir for releasing Paul on humanitarian grounds and restoring our family,” said his wife, Linda Lynch, who traveled with Richardson and Tribune Editor Ann Marie Lipinski to Sudan.
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