(Khartoum) The United Nations on Tuesday called on Sudan to launch an investigation after a man publicly requested a fatwa authorizing him to assassinate the UN envoy to Sudan, Volker Perthes.
Since Monday, a video has been circulating on social networks in Sudan showing a man violently attacking Mr. Perthes during a conference bringing together Islamist parties and others linked to the regime of Omar al-Bashir, who was ousted in 2019 under the pressure from the street and the army.
The man, introducing himself as “Abdelmoneim”, accuses Mr. Perthes of having committed “offences” and “excluded” certain factions from the talks aimed at ending the crisis which has shaken the country since the military coup. from October 2021.
“I ask for a fatwa […] to shed his blood,” the man said during the conference, claiming “to be willing to do it.”
On Tuesday, the UN mission for Sudan said it was “deeply concerned”.
“Calls to hatred and violence will only deepen divisions, but they will not prevent the mission from carrying out its activities,” the UN said in a statement calling on “the Sudanese authorities to launch an investigation “.
Late Tuesday, the organizers of the conference assured that the latter had been open to the public and that the comments made by the man did not represent them.
In a press release, however, they criticized the “negative role” of the UN which, according to them, imposes “a foreign vision on the Sudanese people”.
The Islamists, supporters of the Islamo-military dictatorship of Omar el-Béchir, regularly call for the departure of the country of the UN envoy.
Since the coup led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhane which halted the democratic transition, Sudan, one of the poorest countries in the world, continues to sink into political and economic crisis.
The UN has been facilitating talks between different factions since December to allow the signing of a framework agreement providing for a return to power sharing between civilians and military.
However, the signing of this agreement, scheduled for April, has already been postponed for lack of compromise between the military and paramilitaries on the reform of the security forces.