The leader of the Forces of Freedom and Change, Yasser Saeed Arman, said that ending the tasks of the UN Integrated Transitional Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS) would not support the endeavors to end the war in the country.
The UN Security Council on Friday decided to terminate the mandate of the UN political mission in Sudan as of this Monday, after Khartoum called for its immediate withdrawal last month.
In statements to Asharq Al-Awsat, Arman said that the UN Security Council should not have ended the mission’s tasks, stressing that the international community would not abandon the issue of war in Sudan due to its internal and external repercussions on civilians.
The prominent Sudanese politician also warned that the decision to end the mission of UNITAMS would bring about “negative results to those who called for the termination.”
“Despite the current divisions in the Security Council, all of these measures encourage the escalation of the war instead of working to end it as quickly as possible, because they constitute a danger to the Sudanese state and herald its collapse...” He stated.
In mid-November, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres received a request from Khartoum to immediately end the mandate of the UN mission, and decided to appoint the Algerian diplomat, Ramtane Lamamra, as his personal envoy to Sudan.
Asked about the priorities and goals that the Sudanese political forces must seek to achieve in the coming period, Arman stressed that those should include securing access to humanitarian aid, protecting the civilians, and ending hostilities.
He added that the Sudanese components should work to “stop the war and build a new state, new army, and institutions that give the opportunity to establish a national project that achieves democracy and stability in the country.”
Since the announcement of the termination of the UNITAMS, questions were raised about whether Sudan would fall under the provisions of Chapter Seven of the United Nations Charter, which includes mechanisms for actions taken in cases of threat to peace.
According to Arman, falling under this chapter “depends on the developments of the war, and the extent to which it poses a major challenge for civilians, which forces the international community to resort to that path that entails large and extensive costs.”
