UNITAMS postpones press conference over Sudanese crisis

February 27, 2022 (KHARTOUM) – The United Nations Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS) announced the postponement of a press conference its head Volker Perthes was expected to hold on Sunday.

The postponement aims to “allow further coordination with regional partners on a common strategy and the design of next phase of a political process for Sudan,” said the Mission in a short tweet posed on Sunday.

In its invitation letter to the media on February 24, the Mission said Perthes would announce the results of the first stage of  the consultations carried out with political forces, civil society groups.

Several sources say the press briefing was postponed because the report about the outcome of the consultations is still under drafting.

The report, which includes the point of convergences and divergences on how to settle the political crisis, shall serve as basis for talks between the Sudanese stakeholders.

The mission will not mediate the intra-Sudanese dialogue process but will only facilitate it.

The African Union with the IGAD are supposed to work on the next stage but already the military authorities seem unhappy with the executive secretary of the east African bloc.

Also, there are reports about disagreements between the African Union and the UN mission in Sudan over UNITAMS’s role during the second stage.

(ST)