By Bahram Abdel Moneim
KHARTOUM, Sudan (AA) - Sudan has declared the head of the UN mission in the country “persona non grata,” the country’s Foreign Ministry said.
In a statement, the ministry said that UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has been notified about the decision to declare Volker Perthes, the head of the UN Integrated Transition Assistance Mission, Sudan (UNITAMS), “persona non grata.”
In a letter to Guterres late last month, Sudanese army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan accused Perthes of inflaming the conflict and called for his removal.
The UN chief, however, affirmed his “full confidence” in Perthes.
In June 2020, the UN Security Council issued a resolution establishing UNITAMS, in response to the request from the Khartoum government at the time.
The conflict-hit African nation has been engulfed by violence for weeks between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.
*Writing by Ikram Kouachi