Danish ambassador summoned home

Denmark's ambassador to Malawi, Oral Bakdal, has been summoned to Copenhagen amid allegations that he made derogatory remarks about President Bakili Muluzi. A senior foreign affairs official in Copenhagen told IRIN on Tuesday that on 5 October, Malawi's Minister of Foreign and International Affairs, Lilian Patel, summoned Bakdal to a meeting, where the allegations were raised. The official would not comment on the allegations. However, the Daily Times in Blantyre on Monday quoted a source as saying that the accusations were made by a local employee at the Danish embassy who was demoted because ill health prevented her from carrying out her normal duties. Playing down the incident and denying reports that Bakdal was expelled from Malawi, the Danish source admitted that Bakdal was in Copenhagen for consultations, but said he was there only so that the incident could be investigated. "We need him here to help us find out. This is unpleasant. Denmark and Malawi have had quite a good relationship for a number of years. We are puzzled and we are trying to find out what is behind all of it," he said. The source said the Danish government had discussed the allegations with the Malawian authorities. "We deny this (the allegations) and in our discussion with the Malawian authorities we pointed out there could be persons in Malawi who could be interested in intimidating the ambassador or damaging the traditionally good relations between Denmark and Malawi ... We told them we have a suspicion that people in Malawi who may be involved in the misuse of Danish funds and who are trying to play the two governments against each other could be responsible," he said. While the source would not elaborate, the Daily Times reported that the row over the Bakdal's alleged remarks followed in the wake of a Danish government audit which found that senior government officials were responsible for misusing aid money totalling Danish K10 million (US $1.2 million). According to the report, Denmark had provided the money for inter-party conflict resolution, but had discovered through the audit that two senior officials siphoned off the money by taking personal loans. The report quoted sources as saying that the audit made Bakdal unpopular with senior ruling party members. It said that following the audit and the allegations, a Malawian delegation led by Alfred Upindi met with and assured Danish officials and promised to cooperate on the investigation. However, the Copenhagen official denied news reports that Danish funding for some projects had already been withdrawn, saying: "We are continuing our programme." He told IRIN the Danish government planned to spend about US $18 million this year.