Press freedom could have prevented Sudan crisis, prize winner says

Sudanese journalist Mahgoub Mohamed Salih, winner of the 2005 WAN Golden Pen Award, says that the Dafur crisis in western Sudan would have not developed to the current state if there had been press freedom in his country. "The Sudanese press was not allowed to publish the facts" although they were known at a very early stage, he said after receiving the award at the opening ceremony of the 58th World Newspaper Congress on Monday in Seoul. Salih added that the current political pressure to solve the crisis was due only to few brave journalist who published stories about the conflict in the Darfur province.

Although freedom of the press is necessary to guarantee peace and stability, Salih says that it needs to be complemented by high standard professional journalism which is committed to the truth. "We look to the whole world to contribute to capacity building in this regard", he said. egt