Sudan's government says the U.N. envoy to the country, a key negotiator in its brutal conflict, is no longer welcome. The announcement late Thursday comes weeks after the head of the country’s military, Gen. Abdel Fattah Burhan, demanded in a letter that envoy Volker Perthes be removed from his post. Meanwhile, Saudi mediators said the Sudanese military and the paramilitary have agreed to a new 24-hour cease-fire to start Saturday at 6 am. Since mid-April, 15, Sudan’s military, headed by Burhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces have been locked in a conflict that has killed more than 860 civilians. Perthes has been a key mediator in Sudan since being appointed as special envoy in 2021.
CAIRO The United Nations envoy to Sudan, a key mediator in the country’s brutal conflict, is no longer welcome in the African country, Sudanese authorities say. A terse statement issued by Sudan’s Foreign Ministry late on Thursday comes just weeks after the head of the country’s military, Gen. Abdel Fattah Burhan, demanded in a letter to envoy Volker Perthes that he should be removed from his post. UN Secretary-General Ant nio Guterres has been notified that Perthes has been formally declared “persona non grata,” the Foreign Ministry said. Since April 15, Sudan’s military, headed by Burhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, led by Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, have been locked in a violent power struggle that has killed more than 860 civilians, according to Sudan’s Doctors’ Syndicate which tracks civilian casualties. The actual death tally is likely to be much higher. Perthes has been a key mediator in Sudan since being appointed
The Sudanese government has announced that the UN envoy and key mediator in the violent conflict is no longer welcome following Sudan's military forces agreeing to a new 24-hour ceasefire.