General Abdel Fattah al-Burhane, in power in Sudan since the October 25 coup, threatened on Friday to expel the permanent United Nations envoy to Khartoum, Volker Perthes, accused of
"interference in Sudanese affairs “
, According to a press release from the army.
Volker Perthes must
"stop overstepping the mandate of the UN mission"
and end
"his blatant interference in Sudanese affairs, which could lead to his expulsion from the country"
, declared General Burhane, chief of the Army.
Read alsoIn Sudan, pseudo-democracy has been shattered
Sudan plunged into a spiral of violence on October 25, when General Burhane sacked the civilians who shared power with him.
Since then, thousands of demonstrators have marched regularly and 93 of them have been killed by the security forces, according to a union of pro-democracy doctors.
Speaking to the UN Security Council on Monday, Volker Perthes warned that Sudan was heading for
'economic and security collapse'
unless the civilian transition, suspended since the October coup, was restored .
He also highlighted the rise in crime and lawlessness, the killing of protesters, violence against women by
"members of the security forces"
and the rise in prosecutions of activists.
In his address to the Security Council, Volker Perthes added that the United Nations, the African Union and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (Igad, an East African regional organization) had agreed to join efforts to facilitate political talks General Burhane called on the UN and the African Union, which suspended Sudan's membership after the putsch, to
"facilitate dialogue among the Sudanese and avoid overstepping their mandates".
On Thursday, the Sudanese Armed Forces newspaper accused the UN Transitional Assistance Mission in Sudan of
“not observing the principle of neutrality”.
The UN mission criticized this article and asserted that the UN
“could not remain neutral in its commitment to protect human rights, freedoms and democracy”.
The "Friends of Sudan", a group that includes the United States, the United Kingdom and the European Union, has lent its support to the latest efforts to facilitate the talks.
The group also called for the restoration of a civilian-led transition, as it
would "pave the way for the restoration of economic aid and international debt relief."
