SUDAN NEWS ALERT: AP – Sudan urges UN to withdraw all peacekeepers by June 2020

27/8/19: AP – Sudan urges UN to withdraw all peacekeepers by June 2020, by Edith M. Lederer

 AP reports that Sudan’s UN Ambassador Omer Mohamed Siddig urged the UN Security Council to lift its suspension of troop withdrawals, ensure all peacekeepers leave Darfur by June 2020, and end restrictions on the Sudanese government’s movement of arms and troops in and out of Darfur.

 However, Smail Chergui, the African Union (AU) commissioner for peace and security, said that Darfur “remains volatile” amid clashes between government forces and rebels.

 Chergui also said clashes between farmers and herders are likely to intensify during the current farming season.

 Siddig and Chergui called on the international community to help Sudan’s government convince rebels to come to the peace table. Chergui said Sudan’s rebels “will remain spoilers” if continually excluded from the power-sharing process.

 For context, in late June the UN Security Council voted unanimously to halt the planned withdrawal of the joint UN-AU peacekeeping force from Darfur amid Sudan’s political crisis.