In Sudan, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhane found a scapegoat. The head of the army is calling for the dismissal of the UN envoy, Volker Perthes, blaming him for the war that broke out six weeks ago with the paramilitaries and left more than 1,800 dead, according to the NGO ACLED, and, according to the UN, more than a million displaced and 300,000 refugees.

In a letter to the UN, General Burhane accuses Volker Perthes of having "concealed" in his reports to the United Nations the explosive situation in Khartoum. Without these "lies", General Mohamed Hamdan "Daglo (patron of the paramilitaries) would not have launched his military operations". The UN envoy to Sudan, still accuses the letter, has respected neither his duty of "impartiality" nor "national sovereignty", becoming "a party and no longer a mediator".

Guterres 'shocked' by al-Burhane's request

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was "shocked", showing "his full confidence" in his envoy. The US State Department also expressed its "resolute support" and "confidence" in Volker Perthes and expressed its "concern" about the letter addressed to the United Nations.

On April 15, the day the army chief and paramilitary boss began hostilities, they were supposed to meet for negotiations. For weeks, the international community, led by the UN, had been demanding that they agree on the integration of General Daglo's Rapid Support Forces (RSF) into the army. While many observers predicted a failure of the talks, the UN envoy to Sudan proclaimed his "optimism". On the day the war broke out, he admitted he had been "taken by surprise".

Volker Perthes, who recently left for New York, "may not be able to return to Sudan and surely knew it when he left," says researcher Kholood Khair. For her, the weight of Islamists in the Burhane camp continues to increase and the granting or not of the entry visa to Volker Perthes "will be a litmus test to gauge" their resurgence.

The army camp, however, seems divided: at a time when General Burhane was calling for the dismissal of Volker Perthes, his new number two, former rebel leader Malik Agar, was discussing a way out of the crisis with the UN envoy.

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