Army chief blames UN envoy for war, calls for dismissal

In Sudan, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhane has found a scapegoat. The army chief is indeed demanding the dismissal of the UN envoy, Volker Perthes, making him bear the responsibility for the war which broke out six weeks ago with the paramilitaries and left more than 1,800 dead, according to the NGO ACLED, and, according to the UN, more than a million displaced persons and 300,000 refugees.

In a letter addressed to the UN, General Burhane accuses Volker Perthes of having “concealed” the explosive situation in Khartoum in his reports to the United Nations. Without these “lies”, General Mohamed Hamdane “Daglo (boss of the paramilitaries) would not have launched his military operations”. The UN envoy to Sudan, again accuses the letter, has respected neither his duty of “impartiality” nor “national sovereignty”, becoming “a party and no longer a mediator”.

Guterres ‘shocked’ by al-Burhane’s request

United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres said he was “shocked”, expressing “his full confidence” in his envoy. The US State Department also expressed its “strong support” and “confidence” in Volker Perthes and expressed its “concern” about the letter addressed to the United Nations.

On April 15, the day the army chief and paramilitary boss began hostilities, they were supposed to meet for negotiations. For weeks, the international community, led by the UN, has been demanding that they agree on the integration of General Daglo’s Rapid Support Forces (FSR) into the army. While many observers predicted a failure of the talks, the UN envoy to Sudan proclaimed his “optimism”. On the day the war broke out, he admitted to being “taken by surprise”.

Volker Perthes, who recently left for New York, “might not be able to return to Sudan and surely knew it when he left,” says researcher Kholood Khair. For her, the weight of the Islamists in the Burhane camp continues to increase and the granting or not of an entry visa to Volker Perthes “will be a decisive test to gauge” their resurgence.

The army camp, however, seems divided: when General Burhane demanded the dismissal of Volker Perthes, his new number two, the former rebel leader Malik Agar, was discussing a way out of the crisis with the UN envoy.

source site