Russian envoy to Sudan appointed to oversee African affairs

March 21, 2011 (MOSCOW) – Russia’s Special Envoy to Sudan Mikhail Margelov has been relieved from his position and appointed as a special representative of the country’s president for cooperation with African countries.

A Moscow-based non-governmental news agency, Interfax, reported on Monday that the Russian President, Dmitriy Medvedev, had issued a decree relieving Margelov from his responsibilities as Russian’s special envoy to Sudan. Medvedev issued another decree tapping Margelov to serve as his representative for cooperation with leaders of Africa.

Margelov was embroiled in few controversies since he was appointed as a special envoy to Sudan in December 2008.

He received a backlash from Sudanese opposition groups as well as Darfur rebels when he suggested that the incumbent President Al-Bashir was favored to win general-elections which took place in April last year amid opposition boycotts and reports of mass fraud.

He was also criticized and accused of stealthily seeking to advance his country’s economic interest for his support to President Al-Bashir against the warrant issued for his arrest by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on the grounds of atrocities allegedly committed in Sudan’s western region of Darfur.

Margelov also drew the ire of southern Sudanese last year when he suggested that a new state in the region, which voted to become independent in January this year, holds the risk of becoming “a new Somalia.”

A Russian-language Israeli website reported last year that Margelov absconded briefly during a trip to Tel Aviv in December to meet officials from South Sudan.

Margelov made a rare criticism of the Sudanese government’s decision to expel a host of foreign aid agencies from Darfur region in reaction to the ICC’s arrest warrant, saying it was an illogical step.”

(ST)