The UN Security Council has extended the United Nations political mission in Sudan for another six months after Sudan’s army chief blamed UN ambassador Volker Perthes for sparking the worsening civil conflict.
The Council unanimously agreed in a brief resolution to extend the UN Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan until December 3, 2023, highlighting the country’s precarious position.
Sudan’s army chief, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, accused Perthes last week of inciting the army’s fight against paramilitaries.
The army general also requested UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to name a replacement for Perthes, claiming the envoy had committed “fraud and disinformation” in aiding a political process that devolved into six weeks of brutal urban combat.
The resolution adopted Friday calls on the Secretary-General to continue to report on the mission, known as Unitams, in Sudan every three months. The next report is expected by 30th August.
Perthes, who was in New York when Barhan made his accusation, is expected to return “to the region” in the coming days, first stopping in Addis Ababa to meet with African Union officials, Farhan Haq, a spokesman for Guterres, said.
Unitams, created in June 2020 to support Sudan’s democratic transition after the fall of Omar al-Bashir a year earlier, had since been renewed annually for a year.
