Burhan threatens to expel UN envoy to Sudan

April 1, 2022 (KHARTOUM) – Abdel Fattah al-Burhan Chairman of the Sovereign Council on Friday threatened to expel the head of the UN Integrated Transitional Assistance Mission (UNITAMS), Volker Peretz, accusing him of interfering in Sudanese affairs.

In a briefing to the UN Security Council on March 28, Perthes spoke about the deteriorating political, security, economic and humanitarian situation in Sudan after the military coup. Also, he had submitted a report covering the past three months from November 2021 to February 2022.

The Sudanese foreign ministry, in response to his report, said that Perthes dedicates his time to political issues instead of peace implementation and elections. Also, the statement said they responded to his report and were preparing to reorient UNITAMS activities.

The Armed Forces newspaper, in an article by its editor in chief, attacked Perthes’s report saying it “included several false and exaggerated information”. The article denounced his meetings with the political forces and the Resistance Committees describing it as “a blatant interference In the affairs of the country”.

In a speech at the graduation ceremony of a new batch from the Military College on Friday,  al-Burhan urged the UNITAMS head to stop violating the mission’s mandate and interfering in Sudanese affairs.

“UNITAMS Head’s violation of his mandate will lead to his expulsion from the country,” he said.

He further called on the United Nations and the African Union to facilitate dialogue between the Sudanese without exceeding their mandate or interfering in the country’s affairs.

During the past two months, the UNITAMS chief held a series of consultation meetings with the Sudanese stakeholders within the framework of a process aiming to facilitate an intra-Sudanese dialogue.

Before launching the consultations, he discussed the initiative with the military leaders who agreed with him that it should lead to a Sudanese-led process.

Following his briefing before the Security Council, the Friends of Sudan issued a statement supporting the UNITAMS-AU-IGAD facilitated the political process and welcomed the achieved progress as they prepare to launch the second phase of the political process.

Also, the former ruling coalition in Sudan, Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC) welcomed the position of the UN special envoy about the coup of Gen al-Burhan and reiterated their commitment to the UNITAMS-AU-IGAD facilitated process.

On 31 March, UNITAMS issued a statement welcoming renewed support of Friends of Sudan Group for the political process led by the Sudanese and facilitated by UNITAMS, the African Union and IGAD, to restore democratic transition in the country.

The statement reiterated that the UNITAMS, and in line with its mandate “will continue to work jointly with the African Union and IGAD, and Sudanese stakeholders in the next phase of the political process, which is expected to be launched soon (…)”.

However, the mission did not mention the statement of the ministry of the foreign ministry.

(ST)