UN envoy to Sudan but present in Ethiopia on Thursday, Volker Perthes risks not finding his office. The German has indeed been declared “persona non grata” by the Sudanese government, which accuses him of being responsible for the ongoing war. “The government of the Republic of Sudan has notified the Secretary General of the United Nations that it has declared Mr. Volker Perthes (…) persona non grata as of today,” the Sudanese Ministry of Affairs said in a statement. foreign.
The head of the Sudanese army, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhane, had called for the dismissal of the senior diplomat, accusing him of being responsible for the war which broke out on April 15 between his troops and the paramilitaries of the Support Forces (FSR) of General Mohamed Hamdane Daglo. In a letter addressed to the UN, General Burhane notably accused the emissary of having “concealed” 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.
” Taken by surprise “
The fighting broke out the day the two rival generals were to meet for negotiations aimed at integrating the FSR into the regular army, as the UN had been calling for for weeks. While many observers predicted a failure of these discussions, Volker Perthes proclaimed his “optimism”. He also admitted to being “taken by surprise” the day the war broke out.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, however, affirmed “his full confidence” in his envoy after General Burkhane’s letter. But at the beginning of June, the Security Council had only extended for six months, instead of a year as planned, the United Nations Integrated Mission for Transition Assistance in Sudan (Minuats).