Sudan's government declares UN envoy no longer welcome; warring sides agree to 24-hour cease-fire

Source: AP

By JACK JEFFERY an hour ago

CAIRO (AP) — The Sudanese government announced that the U.N. envoy to the country and key mediator in its brutal conflict is no longer welcome as the warring sides in the African nation agreed to a new, 24-hour cease-fire.

Sudan’s Foreign Ministry issued a terse statement late Thursday, weeks after the military chief, Gen. Abdel Fattah Burhan, demanded in a letter that envoy Volker Perthes be removed from his post. The ministry said U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres was notified that Perthes was declared “persona non grata.”

Since mid-April, Sudan’s military, headed by Burhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, led by Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, have been locked in a violent conflict. The fighting has killed more than 860 civilians, according to Sudan’s Doctors’ Syndicate, which tracks civilian casualties, though the actual death toll is likely much higher.

On Friday, the military and the RSF agreed to a another truce, to last 24 hours, starting 6 a.m. on Saturday. The case-fire was announced by Saudi Arabia and the United States in a joint statement, carried by the kingdom’s Saudi Press Agency.




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