UNITED NATIONS: Sudan’s envoy for United Nation Volker Perthes on Wednesday announced his resignation following tensions with Khartoum as the country approaches five months of fighting between the army and a paramilitary group.

Khartoum in June declared Perthes persona non grata and accused him of bias after he denounced possible “crimes against humanity” in the conflict.

Perthes had been the UN representative to Sudan for more than two years, heading up the UNITAMS mission that was created in 2020 after the ouster of former leader Omar al-Bashir.

“I am grateful to the Secretary-General for that opportunity and for his confidence in me, but I have asked him to relieve me of this duty,” Perthes told the UN Security Council.

“This will therefore be my last briefing in this function.” United Nations chief Antonio Guterres said Perthes’ resignation was accepted, adding “he has very strong reasons.” Perthes warned again on Wednesday that the conflict between forces under General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of General Mohamed Hamdan Daglo is in danger of further deterioration.

“What started as a conflict between two military formations could be morphing into a full-scale civil war,” he said, as “the fighting shows no sign of abating while neither side appears close to a decisive military victory.”

Published in Dawn, September 14th, 2023