After death threats, Sudanese authorities dismiss UN envoy from his position
The UN envoy to Sudan, the main mediator in the country’s brutal conflict, is no longer welcome in the African country, authorities say.
According to the Associated Press, the brief statement was issued by the Sudanese Foreign Ministry just weeks after the Sudanese Army Commander, General Abdul Fattah al-Burhan, asked in a letter to the envoy Volker Peretz to dismiss him.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has been informed that Peretz has been officially declared “persona non grata”, the Foreign Office said.
Death threats
“Since 15 April, the al-Burhan-led Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) led by General Mohamed Hamdan Daglo have engaged in a violent power struggle that has killed more than 860 civilians, according to the Sudanese Doctors Syndicate.” “As civilian casualties increase, the actual death toll is likely to be much higher.”
“It went on to say that Peretz has been a key mediator in Sudan since he was appointed special envoy in 2021, first during the country’s failed attempts to transition to democracy and then relations between the military and the RSF deteriorated.” Fighting broke out last month.
Volcker was in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on Thursday. He met with representatives from the African Union and the eight-nation East African bloc IGAD. Neither the UN nor Volcker immediately commented on the resolution.
The German diplomat has received death threats in recent months and numerous calls for his resignation. In his letter last month, the German diplomat accused Perthes of being “biased” and contributing negatively to the pre-war talks between the generals and pro-democracy groups in the weeks leading up to the conflict.
In response to the allegations, Volcker told the Associated Press: Those who threatened him were marginal “extremists” and there was broad appreciation for the U.N. effort in Sudan, which moved its headquarters to the coastal city of Port Sudan.
The conflict between the generals has turned Khartoum into an urban battleground, with many of the city’s neighborhoods without running water or electricity, the US agency said.” There have been reports of widespread looting and sexual violence, including the rape of women and girls in Khartoum and the western region of Darfur, which has seen some of the worst fighting in the conflict. Almost all reported cases of sexual assault have been blamed on the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
On Wednesday, 297 children were rescued from an orphanage in the Sudanese capital after being trapped there during the outbreak of fighting abroad”, UNICEF said.
