UN: The United Nations Security Council is due to vote on Friday to end a political mission in war-torn Sudan, diplomats said, after the country’s acting foreign minister requested the move earlier this month and described the mission’s performance as “disappointing.”
A war erupted on April 15 between the Sudanese army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces after weeks of rising tension between the two sides over a plan to integrate forces as part of a transition from military rule to civilian democracy.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres described the situation to reporters on Tuesday: “You have two generals that completely disregard the interests of their population.”
When asked whether the conflict was a failure of the United Nations or African Union, Guterres said: “It’s time to call a spade a spade. This is the fault of those that sacrificed the interests of their people for a pure struggle for power.”
The draft council resolution terminates the mandate of the UN mission, known as UNITAMS, on Dec. 3 and requires it to wind down over the next three months. UNITAMS was established by the 15-member council in June 2020 to provide support to Sudan during its political transition to democratic rule.
The draft text “recognizes the importance of UN agencies, funds and programs, underlines the necessity of an orderly UNITAMS transition and liquidation in order to ensure the safety of UN personnel and the effective functioning of all UN operations, including humanitarian and development assistance.”
A UN country team providing humanitarian and development aid will remain in the country.
Violence against civilians in Sudan is “verging on pure evil,” a senior United Nations official warned earlier this month, as a humanitarian crisis in the country worsens and ethnic violence escalates in the western region of Darfur.
“The United Nations is not leaving Sudan,” UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said on Thursday.
“Despite what is going on with the political mission, I think it is very important for people to remember that we have humanitarian colleagues in large numbers who remain present in Sudan, assisting people who are in need of dire humanitarian aid,” he said.
The UN special envoy to Sudan announced in September that he was stepping down, more than three months after Sudan declared him unwelcome.
Last week Guterres appointed veteran Algerian diplomat Ramtane Lamamra as his personal envoy for Sudan. The draft Security Council resolution encourages all parties to cooperate with the envoy.
UN Security Council due to vote to close Sudan political mission
https://arab.news/4tczq
UN Security Council due to vote to close Sudan political mission
Syrian authorities arrest leader of terrorist cells in Lattakia
- Ali Aziz Sbeira is accused of violating civilians’ rights during the Syrian uprising after 2011
LONDON: Syrian authorities have arrested Ali Aziz Sbeira, a prominent leader of terrorist cells responsible for attacks on internal security checkpoints, the Syrian army and civilians during the country’s uprising against the former regime of Bashar Assad.
The Internal Security Directorate announced on Wednesday the capture of Sbeira in Lattakia province, located on the Mediterranean Sea.
Authorities accuse him of leading and supplying arms to terrorist groups. Hailing from the town of Jableh, Sbeira is also accused of having links to Ghiyath Dalla and Brigadier General Nours Makhlouf, two military figures associated with the former rule of Assad.
Sbeira is accused of violating civilians’ rights during the Syrian uprising after 2011, when he joined the National Defense Militia and helped suppress peaceful demonstrations, according to the Syrian Arab News Agency.
In 2014, he joined the 4th Armoured Division, which was commanded by Maher Assad, brother of the former president, from 2018 until the collapse of the Assad regime in December 2024.
