Sources in Sudan’s foreign ministry told Al Jazeera that Volker Potus will not be allowed to return to the war-torn country.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres said he was “appalled” by a letter from Sudanese army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan reportedly calling for the replacement of special envoy Volker Pepe. Walters.
Pertes and the UN Mission in Sudan have been the target of repeated protests by thousands of military and other supporters who have repeatedly accused him of “foreign interference” and demanded his sacking.
“[Guterres] “I am proud of the work Volker Potus has done and reiterated his confidence in his Special Representative,” U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in a statement late Friday. He was shocked by the letter he received from General al-Burhan.”
Sources in Sudan’s foreign ministry told Al Jazeera that Perthes will not be allowed to return to the war-torn country.
Potus is currently in New York City, where he briefed the UN Security Council on the situation in Sudan earlier this week. There is no information on when he will return to Sudan, where authorities have not issued visas to foreigners since the war began.
Al-Burhan accused Perthes of widening divisions in the country by excluding voices that would have been involved in the transition to a civilian government.
Al-Burhan’s forces are currently at war with his former deputy, Mohamed Hamdan “Hemedti” Daglo, who commands the powerful paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.
Rival factions are now in the fifth day of a week-long truce brokered by the United States and Saudi Arabia, during which they have repeatedly accused each other of violating the agreement.
“Really not a surprise”
Neither the military nor the United Nations have released an official copy of al-Burhan’s letter, which reportedly calls for the removal of Pertes as Guterres’ special envoy to Sudan.
It is the latest in a series of moves by al-Burhan, who last week formally sacked Hemedti as his deputy in the ruling Sovereign Council, funneled hardline military supporters into his inner circle and is now seeking to bolster the army ranks .
Observers say the presence of a UN mission in Sudan has caused problems for the military since the Darfur conflict in the 2000s and the 2021 coup.
“The Sudanese regime has never really accepted a role for the United Nations for a long time. The departure of Mr Volker Perthes is no surprise. He knows his future in Sudan is rather bleak,” said former spokesperson of the African Union-United Nations mission in Darfur Aicha Elbasri said.
Sudan’s Ministry of Defense on Friday called on “army pensioners … and anyone able to bear arms” to go to their nearest military command and “arm themselves to protect themselves”, their families and neighbours.
A statement later in the day retracted the call for “reservists” and “pensioners” in the army.
More than 1,800 people have been killed in recent fighting across Sudan, according to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project.
The United Nations says more than a million people have been displaced inside Sudan, in addition to 300,000 who have fled to neighboring countries.
