KHARTOUM: Sudan’s de facto leader Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan threatened Friday to expel UN special representative Volker Perthes over alleged “interference” in the country’s affairs.
Perthes, in an address Monday to the United Nations Security Council, said Sudan was heading toward “an economic and security collapse” unless its civilian-led transition, upended in last year’s military coup led by Burhan, was restored.
Perthes also warned of rising crime and lawlessness, killing of anti-coup protesters, violence against women “by members of the security forces” and increased targeting of activists.
Burhan warned Perthes “to stop overstepping the mandate of the UN mission and blatant interference in Sudanese affairs, as that would lead to his expulsion from the country.”
He also urged the UN and the African Union (AU) “to facilitate dialogue among Sudanese and avoid overstepping their mandate,” in a statement released by the armed forces.
On Thursday, the armed forces’ newspaper’s chief editor Ibrahim Al-Houri, in an article, accused the UN Integrated Transition Assistance Mission Sudan headed by Perthes of “not adhering to the principle of neutrality.”
UNITAMS has rejected the charge but insisted it is “not neutral with regard to its commitment to protect human rights, freedoms and democracy.”
Regular mass protests have rocked Sudan since the coup, in the face of a violent crackdown by security forces that has so far killed 93 people, according to medics.
Perthes said UNITAMS along with the AU and regional bloc IGAD, have agreed on joint efforts to facilitate Sudanese-led talks.
The Friends of Sudan, a grouping which includes the United States, Britain and the European Union, have also thrown their weight behind latest efforts to facilitate dialogue.
The group has called for the restoration of the civilian-led transition that had followed the 2019 ouster of longtime autocrat Omar Al-Bashir as it “would pave the way to restore economic assistance and international debt relief.”
Sudan’s Burhan threatens to expel UN mission head
https://arab.news/bp8e9
Sudan’s Burhan threatens to expel UN mission head
- Burhan warned Perthes "to stop overstepping the mandate of the UN mission and blatant interference in Sudanese affairs, as that would lead to his expulsion from the country"
- He also urged the UN and the African Union (AU) "to facilitate dialogue among Sudanese and avoid overstepping their mandate"
Hundreds mourn in Syria’s Homs after deadly mosque bombing
- Officials have said the preliminary investigations indicate explosive devices were planted inside the mosque but have not yet publicly identified a suspect
HOMS: Hundreds of mourners gathered Saturday despite rain and cold outside of a mosque in the Syrian city of Homs where a bombing the day before killed eight people and wounded 18.
The crowd gathered next to the Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib Mosque in the Wadi Al-Dhahab neighborhood, where the population is predominantly from the Alawite minority, before driving in convoys to bury the victims.
Officials have said the preliminary investigations indicate explosive devices were planted inside the mosque but have not yet publicly identified a suspect.
A little-known group calling itself Saraya Ansar Al-Sunna claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement posted on its Telegram channel, in which it indicated that the attack intended to target members of the Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shia Islam whom hard-line Islamists consider to be apostates.
The same group had previously claimed a suicide attack in June in which a gunman opened fire and then detonated an explosive vest inside a Greek Orthodox church in Dweil’a, on the outskirts of Damascus, killing 25 people as worshippers prayed on a Sunday.
A neighbor of the mosque, who asked to be identified only by the honorific Abu Ahmad (“father of Ahmad“) out of security concerns, said he was at home when he heard the sound of a “very very strong explosion.”
He and other neighbors went to the mosque and saw terrified people running out of it, he said. They entered and began trying to help the wounded, amid blood and scattered body parts on the floor.
While the neighborhood is primarily Alawite, he said the mosque had always been open to members of all sects to pray.
“It’s the house of God,” he said. “The mosque’s door is open to everyone. No one ever asked questions. Whoever wants to enter can enter.”
Mourners were unable to enter the mosque to pray Saturday because the crime scene remained cordoned off, so they prayed outside.
Some then marched through the streets chanting “Ya Ali,” in reference to the Prophet Muhammad’s cousin and son-in-law whom Shiite Muslims consider to be his rightful successor.
