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UN Mission Chief Arrives in Khartoum to Support Transition

UN special envoy to Sudan Volker Perthes will aid the country’s move to democracy. AP
UN special envoy to Sudan Volker Perthes will aid the country’s move to democracy. AP
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UN Mission Chief Arrives in Khartoum to Support Transition

UN special envoy to Sudan Volker Perthes will aid the country’s move to democracy. AP
UN special envoy to Sudan Volker Perthes will aid the country’s move to democracy. AP

Head of the United Nations Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS) Volker Perthes arrived in Khartoum on Tuesday and was received by the head of the Sudanese National Executive Committee for Coordination with the UN mission, Omar al-Sheikh.

The mission was supposed to start implementing all its strategic objectives on January 1 but could not do so due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Upon his arrival, Perthes said he was “looking forward to launch his mission’s official work and harness the possible technical and diplomatic support to implement the mission’s tasks in full consultation, cooperation and coordination with Sudan’s transitional government institutions, topped by the national mechanism for coordination with the UNITAMS.”

Sheikh said his committee trusts Perthes’s capabilities, qualifications and expertise to lead the mission, employ it to support the transition process’s thorny issues and implement the strategic goals set along with the transitional government.

Head of the UNITAMS planning team Stephen Sequeira and Office-in-Charge Stephanie Khoury arrived in Khartoum in December to launch the mission’s work, Sheikh explained.

Volker is scheduled to hold intensive meetings with all leaders and structures of the transitional authority, according to the committee’s statement, which added that he will first remain in quarantine for seven days to ensure he is COVID-19 free.

On June 4, 2020, the UN Security Council decided to establish the new political mission to assist the country in its transition towards democratic governance, provide support for peace negotiations and bolster efforts to maintain accountable rule of law and security institutions.

Unanimously adopting resolution 2524, the Council decided that UNITAMS will provide technical assistance to the constitution drafting process, supporting implementation of all human rights, equality, accountability and rule-of-law provisions in the constitutional document.

“Among other strategic objectives, UNITAMS will provide good offices for peace negotiations, and if requested, scalable support for the implementation of any future peace agreements, and for the monitoring and verification of possible ceasefires, with particular focus on Blue Nile and South Kordofan (the Two Areas) and Darfur.”

It will collaborate with international financial institutions to mobilize economic and development assistance, and facilitate full, rapid and unhindered delivery of humanitarian aid.

The mission consists of 269 employees in total distributed on eight offices in Darfur, Kordofan, Blue Nile, Kassala and Port Sudan, with a budget of $34 million for 2021, and it is tasked to supervise the work of all UN agencies in the African country.

On June 6, Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok launched the National Executive Committee to coordinate with UNITAMS and assigned Ambassador Sheikh as its head.

The Committee includes representatives of the ministries of foreign affairs, interior and finance, in addition to the military intelligence and general intelligence service.

UNITAMS was established in response to an official request in April 2020 by the Sudanese government to provide a Chapter VI peace support operation to Sudan.

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FM: Iraq Wants Iran-backed Factions to Lay Down Weapons

Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein speaks during an interview in London, Britain, January 15, 2025. REUTERS/Marissa Davison
Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein speaks during an interview in London, Britain, January 15, 2025. REUTERS/Marissa Davison
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FM: Iraq Wants Iran-backed Factions to Lay Down Weapons

Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein speaks during an interview in London, Britain, January 15, 2025. REUTERS/Marissa Davison
Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein speaks during an interview in London, Britain, January 15, 2025. REUTERS/Marissa Davison

Iraq is trying to convince powerful armed factions in the country that have fought US forces and fired rockets and drones at Israel to lay down their weapons or join official security forces, Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein said.

The push comes with a backdrop of seismic shifts in the Middle East that have seen Iran's armed allies in Gaza and Lebanon heavily degraded and Syria's government overthrown.

The incoming US Trump administration promises to pile more pressure on Tehran, which has long backed a number of political parties and an array of armed factions in Iraq.

Some Baghdad officials are concerned the status quo there may be upended next, but Hussein played this down in an interview with Reuters during an official visit to London.

"We don't think that Iraq is the next," Hussein said.

The government was in talks to rein in the groups while continuing to walk the tightrope between its ties to both Washington and Tehran, he said.
"Two or three years ago it was impossible to discuss this topic in our society," he said.

But now, having armed groups functioning outside the state was not acceptable.

"Many political leaders, many political parties started to raise a discussion, and I hope that we can convince the leaders of these groups to lay down their arms, and then to be part of the armed forces under the responsibility of the government," Hussein said.

Iraq's balancing act has been tested by Iran-backed Iraqi armed groups' attacks on Israel and on US troops in the country they say are in solidarity with Palestinians during the Israel-Hamas war.

A promised Gaza ceasefire has the government breathing a sigh of relief, though uncertainty prevails over how the country may fare after Donald Trump becomes US president.

During the last Trump presidency, relations grew tense as he ordered the assassination of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad in 2020, leading to an Iranian ballistic missile attack on an Iraqi base housing US forces.

"We hope that we can continue this good relationship with Washington," Hussein said. "It is too early now to talk about which policy President Trump is going to follow for Iraq or Iran."

Iraq will only be reassured about Syria when it sees an inclusive political process, Hussein said, adding Baghdad would supply the country with grain and oil once it could be assured it would go to all Syrians.
Baghdad was in talks with Syria's foreign minister over a visit to Iraq, he said.

"We are worried about the ISIS, so we are in contact with the Syrian side to talk about these things, but at the end to have a stable Syria means to have the representative of all components in the political process."

Baghdad and Washington last year agreed to end the US-led coalition's work by September 2026 and transition to bilateral military ties, but Hussein said that the developments in Syria would have to be watched.

"In the first place, we are thinking about security of Iraq and stability in Iraq. If there will be a threat to our country, of course it will be a different story," he said.