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UN to move some staff out of Sudan temporarily

Thursday June 06 2019
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Sudanese protesters gesture and chant slogans outside Khartoum's army headquarters on June 3, 2019 after security forces broke up a weeks-long sit-in. On June 5, 2019, the United Nations said it is temporarily removing some civilian staff from Sudan because of the security situation in the country. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP

By REUTERS

The United Nations said on Wednesday it is temporarily removing some civilian staff from Sudan because of the security situation in the country.

Security forces on Monday carried out a deadly raid on a protest camp.

The raid followed weeks of wrangling between the ruling military council and opposition groups over who should lead Sudan’s transition to democracy. It marked the worst outbreak of violence since the army ousted President Omar al-Bashir in April after months of protests against his rule.

“What we are doing is temporarily relocating some of the staff from Sudan. There will still be some staff on hand to perform critical functions but because of security some ... are being relocated temporarily,” said UN spokesman Farhan Haq.

The spokesman provided no information on how many staff were being moved, where they were going, when they might return and how many would remain in the country. The staff being relocated were civilians and no uniformed personnel are leaving, he said.

UN activities in Sudan include development cooperation and humanitarian assistance as well as peacekeeping operations by the joint African Union-United Nations Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) deployed since 2007, according to the UN website.

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