UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres was shocked to read a letter he received from the commander of the army of Sudan, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, where the latter asked Guterres to replace Volker Perthes, the head of the United Nations Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in this country.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has full confidence in his Special Representative for Sudan, said the Guterres' official representative Stephane Dujarric.
"The Secretary General is shocked by the letter he received this morning from General Al-Burhan. The Secretary-General is proud of the work of Volker Perthes and confirms full confidence in his special Representative," the representative stated.
Al-Burhan, as reported by local media, believes that the special representative "misinformed the UN, claiming that there is a consensus between the Sudanese parties on a framework agreement on settlement in the country."
The situation in Sudan has worsened due to disagreements between the army commander al-Burhan and the head of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo.
The main contradictions between these two structures are related to questions about the timing and methods of forming a unified Sudanese armed forces, as well as who should become the commander-in-chief of the army: a professional military, for which al-Burhan stands, or an elected civilian president, as Dagalo insists.
On April 15, clashes broke out between two structures near a military base in the city of Merowe, as well as in Khartoum.