By Agencies:
Khartoum: Nicholas Haysom, an International Special Adviser, has been appointed by the United Nations (UN) Secretary General António Guterres to support the African Union’s mediation efforts in Sudan. His appointment comes shortly after the jailing of ousted president Gen.Omar El-Bashir , who was overthrown in a coup that was orchestrated by the army, after mass protests that have spurn four months now.
“He is being put at disposal of the African Union, which we understand will be engaged in some mediation capacity between the transitional council in Khartoum and various parts of Sudanese society,” U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric told the press Tuesday. He added that “Mr. Haysom will be there to support them in whatever way he can.” Dujarric noted that U.N. chief Guterres had spoken Monday with Moussa Faki Mahamat, the chair of the African Union Commission, and told him that Haysom would be available. “The secretary-general is very attached to his partnership with the African Union and he will do whatever he can to support their efforts,” Dujarric said. Haysom was recently the U.N.’s top man in Somalia, but was expelled after four months by the Somali federal government, when he tried to intervene on behalf of a former al-Shabab leader who sought to take part in elections but was banned by Somalia’s electoral commission.
He is a South African lawyer who was previously the U.N. special envoy for Sudan and South Sudan and was head of the U.N. mission in Afghanistan. His appointment came after the African Union Peace and Security Council issued a strong statement Monday condemning the military takeover in Sudan as an unconstitutional change of government, and demanding the military hand over power to a transitional civilian-led political authority within 15 days. The AU threatened to suspend Sudan from participating in all African Union activities until constitutional order is restored. The military rulers dispatched an envoy to the African Union’s headquarters in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, but the regional bloc threatened to suspend Sudan over the coup. The 55-member union has given the military council just 15 days to hand over to civilian rule, while the United Nations has appointed a new envoy to work with the AU on mediating an end to the crisis.
