Iran Press/ America: Authorities in war-hit Sudan have declared the head of the United Nations mission in the country, “persona non grata” two weeks after the army chief accused him of inflaming the conflict and called for his removal.
“The Government of the Republic of Sudan has notified the Secretary-General of the United Nations that it has declared Mr Volker Perthes persona non grata as of today,” Sudan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Thursday.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said "the doctrine of persona non grata is not applicable to or in respect of United Nations personnel" and is contrary to Khartoum's obligations under the UN charter, according to his spokesman Stephane Dujarric.
At the end of May, the head of the Sudanese army, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, wrote to Guterres calling for the dismissal of Perthes, blaming him for the war that broke out in mid-April with the paramilitaries of General Mohamed Hamdane Daglo.
On Thursday night, the Sudanese Foreign Ministry said that the government had notified Guterres that it had declared Perthes "persona non grata".
