The Sudanese government on Thursday declared the UN envoy for the country, the German Volker Perthes, persona non grata, whom it has accused for several weeks of being responsible for the ongoing war.
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“The government of the Republic of Sudan has informed the Secretary-General of the United Nations that, effective today, it has declared Mr. Volker Perthes (…) persona non grata,” the Sudanese Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Mr Perthes was in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on Thursday for a series of diplomatic talks, the UN previously announced on Twitter.
The head of the Sudanese army, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhane, had called for the senior diplomat to be fired, accusing him of being responsible for the war that broke out on April 15 between his troops and the Paramilitary Support Forces (FSR) by General Mohamed Hamdane Daglo.
In a letter to the UN, General Burhane specifically accused Mr Perthes of “concealing” in his reports the explosive situation in Khartoum before the outbreak of hostilities. Without these “lies,” General “Daglo would not have launched his military operations,” he argued.
Fighting erupted on the day the two rival generals were due to meet to negotiate the integration of the FSR into the regular army, as the United Nations had been demanding for weeks.
While many observers predicted a failure of these discussions, Mr Perthes proclaimed his “optimism”. He also admitted to being “surprised” the day war broke out.
Guterres Trust
Volker Perthes was in New York when General Burhane sent his letter of indictment, and the authorities have not issued visas to foreigners since the war began.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres reaffirmed his “full confidence” in his envoy.
However, in early June, the Security Council extended the United Nations Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (Minuats), headed by Mr Perthes, by just six months.
Minuats were established in June 2020 to support Sudan’s democratic transition following the ouster of Omar el-Bashir the previous year and have been renewed for one year each year since.
For several months, thousands of people who supported the army and the Islamists had demonstrated against Mr Perthes and alleged foreign “interference”.
Democracy advocates have long accused General Burhane of being exploited by the Islamists of Omar el-Bashir’s regime (1989-2019).
General Daglo plays with this rhetoric too: he keeps fighting “the Islamists” and the “remnants of the old regime” and makes himself the champion of “democracy” and “human rights” while even being accused of thousands of men perpetrating on Bashir’s behalf Atrocities during the war in Darfur (West) in the 2000s.
The war in Sudan has claimed more than 1,800 lives, according to the ACLED organization, which specializes in gathering information in conflict zones.
According to the United Nations, almost two million people have fled their homes. It is estimated that 25 of the 45 million people in the country, which is already among the poorest in the world, are in need of humanitarian assistance.
The situation is deadlocked, with none of the multiple ceasefires declared by the two rival generals being respected. A mediation attempt sponsored by Saudi Arabia and the United States was suspended on June 1. The day before, the army had withdrawn from negotiations to create safe corridors for the passage of civilians and humanitarian aid.
Hospitals in combat zones no longer only partially function when not closed. And the crisis is likely to worsen with the approaching rainy season, accompanied by a resurgence of malaria, food insecurity and child malnutrition.