The Sudanese army commander, Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, accused Bertis of contributing, with his “biased” behavior and “misleading” style, to the outbreak of the bloody conflict in Sudan in mid-April.
The Sudanese government has declared the German UN envoy Volker Perthes persona non grata, the Foreign Ministry said Thursday.
“The government of the Republic of Sudan has notified the Secretary-General of the United Nations of declaring Volker Berthes, the representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations and head of the UNITAMS mission, persona non grata, as of today’s date,” the ministry said in a statement.
The United Nations announced earlier on Twitter that Berthes was Thursday in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, for a series of diplomatic talks.
The Sudanese army commander, Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, had accused Perthes of contributing, with his “biased” behavior and “misleading” style, to the outbreak of the bloody conflict in Sudan in mid-April.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was “shocked” by a letter from Al-Burhan, in which he asked for “an alternative nomination” for Perthes and accused him of committing “fraud and misleading” while leading a political process that turned into a devastating war.
On April 15, the day the fighting began in Khartoum, Al-Burhan was supposed to meet with the commander of the Rapid Support Forces, Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, for negotiations facilitated by the United Nations.
The goal was to reach an agreement that would end the political crisis that Sudan has been witnessing since 2021, when Al-Burhan and Daglo together seized power in a coup against the civilian ruling partners.
As their rift festered, the international community pleaded with the two die-hard generals to reach an agreement on integrating the RSF into the army.
Perthes had repeatedly expressed his “optimism” about reaching an agreement and said he was “surprised” by the war that broke out in the country.
However, Al-Burhan said that the international special envoy, in his reports, practiced “misleading and fraud by claiming consensus on the framework agreement.”
He added that he “insisted on imposing it (the agreement) by dishonest means and methods, despite the weaknesses and loopholes in this agreement,” which led to “what happened in terms of rebellion and military confrontations.”
For his part, the Secretary-General of the United Nations said that he was “shocked by the message” of Al-Burhan, adding that he was “proud of the work that Perthes has done and affirms his full confidence in his special representative,” according to what was stated in a statement by his spokesman Stephane Dujarric.
The UN Security Council extended for six months the political mission of the United Nations in Sudan. Guterres, as well as a number of members of the Council, again expressed their support for the UN envoy.
