Sudan army calls on ex-soldiers to re-enlist as fighting persists
May 28, 2023
Khartum [Sudan], May 28: Sudan's army has asked the United Nations to change its envoy to the country, as it calls on reservists and retired soldiers to re-enlist amid the ongoing conflict with a rival paramilitary force.
Friday's call to former soldiers to present themselves at their nearest military base comes days into a shaky truce between the army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Sporadic fighting has continued throughout the internationally backed truce, but the ceasefire monitors - Saudi Arabia and the United States - said on Friday that compliance was improving.
An army spokesperson said enlistment would be voluntary. Sudan's existing armed forces law, however, states that retired soldiers remain as reservists, eligible for compulsory re-enlistment. That does not include those who only did Sudan's mandatory two-year military service.
On Friday, the army leader, Abdel-Fatteh al-Burhan, wrote to the US secretary general, AntonioGuterres, asking him to replace his envoy Volker Perthes, sources in the Sudanese presidency said. Perthes, who was appointed in 2021, had pushed a political transition to civilian rule that some in the army opposed.
Source: Qatar Tribune
