Spokesman for the Sudanese Foreign Ministry Ambassador Ali al Sadek on Thursday denied foreign media reports to the effect that Sudan turned down entry visa requests by Western officials to visit Darfur region, in western Sudan.

In press statements, he explained that granting visas to foreign officials is undertaken through coordination between the Foreign Ministry and departments concerned.

The media reports indicated that ambassadors of France, Britain and the US have applied for entry visas to officials from their countries to visit Darfur for a fact-finding mission but the Sudanese authorities rejected their request.