According to Sudanese and UN authorities, Antonio Guterres, the secretary-general of the United Nations, was “shocked” by a letter from Sudan’s military ruler that demanded the departure of the UN representative from the nation.
Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, Sudan’s senior military officer and chairman of the country’s governing Sovereign Council, sent the letter as Sudan descended into even greater disarray last month after rising hostilities between military rivals broke out in the open.
According to UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric, “The Secretary-General is horrified by the letter he received this (Friday) morning. The Secretary-General expresses his pride in Volker Perthes’ efforts and reiterates his complete trust in him as his Special Representative. Dujarric kept the letter’s contents a secret. A senior military officer, however, said that Burhan’s letter requested Guterres to succeed Perthes, who was chosen for the position in 2021.
The source said that Perthes was accused by Burhan of “being partisan” and that Perthes’ tactics during pre-war negotiations between the generals and the pro-democracy movement contributed to the escalation of hostilities. The negotiations were intended to restart the nation’s democratic transition, which was halted in October 2021 by a military coup.
Due to his lack of authorization to brief the media, the official spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Perthes refuses to respond to any questions about the letter.
The previous year, Burhan charged Perthes of “exceeding the UN mission’s mandate and of blatant interference in Sudanese affairs.” He threatened to have him removed from the nation.
The military and the formidable Rapid Support Forces, led by Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, began battling in mid-April. Burhan and Dagalo both served as the coup’s leaders in 2021, overthrowing Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok’s western-backed administration.
The capital city of Khartoum, together with its sister city of Omdurman, became the focal point of the conflict. The country’s war-torn province of Darfur was also affected by the hostilities.
The battle has left thousands of people injured and hundreds dead, bringing the nation dangerously close to dissolution. More than 1.3 million people were driven from their homes and into safer parts of Sudan or into neighboring countries.
Since the conflict started, Khartoum and Darfur have reported cases of sexual assault, including rape of women and children, a frequent practice in Sudan’s wars and political upheavals.
At least 24 sexual assault instances have been reported in Khartoum, according to the government-run Combating Violence Against Women Unit, while an additional 25 incidents have been reported in Darfur.
The agency that monitors violence against women throughout the nation said that the majority of survivors claimed that the assailants were wearing RSF uniforms and were in Khartoum neighborhoods that were under RSF checkpoint control.
When contacted for comment, the RSF did not react.
A week-long cease-fire has been agreed upon by all sides in the conflict and was mediated by the US and Saudi Arabia. However, the violence continued in several areas of Khartoum and other parts of the country despite the ceasefire, which is set to end Monday night.
In several areas of Omdurman, where army planes were seen flying above the city, residents reported intermittent fights on Saturday. Al-Fasher, the North Darfur province’s capital, too reportedly saw combat.
Burhan’s letter was sent after the U.N. representative accused the combatants of flouting the rules of war by destroying residences, businesses, houses of worship, and water and power facilities.
Perthes blamed the military and RSF leaders for the crisis in his report to the UN Security Council earlier this week, claiming that they had decided to “settle their unresolved conflict on the battlefield rather than at the table.”
