At a time when calm prevailed in Sudan amid the decline in the intensity of the confrontations between the army forces and the Rapid Defense Forces, the Sudanese Ministry of Defense called on retired soldiers and all those capable of carrying weapons to go to the nearest military command to arm them. In a statement today (Friday), the ministry attributed the reasons for arming the retirees to securing themselves and their families. It stated that urban warfare has no time limits, stressing that the rebellion (referring to the Rapid Support Forces) relies on citizens as human shields. The Ministry of Defense accused the “Rapid Support” of looting UN headquarters and carrying out attacks on Arab and foreign embassies.
For his part, the head of the Sudanese Transitional Sovereignty Council, Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, called on the United Nations to replace the United Nations Special Envoy to Sudan, Volker Peretz. Al-Burhan said in a message addressed to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, (Friday), that the presence of Volker Peretz has become a source of negative repercussions towards the United Nations.
Al-Burhan considered that what Volker Peretz spent at the head of the mission does not help implement the mandate of UNITAMS (the United Nations Integrated Transitional Support Mission in Sudan) in a way that contributes to a successful transition process in the country. The United Nations expressed its shock at the Sudanese army’s request to change the UN envoy. The Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, responded to the request to dismiss the UN envoy by renewing confidence in him.
