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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Zeinab Mohammed Salih in Khartoum, Jason Burke and Patrick Wintour

‘The worst of worst case scenarios’: western diplomats blindsided over Sudan crisis

People prepare to board a bus departing from Khartoum to flee the violence, Sudan.
People prepare to board a bus departing from Khartoum to flee the violence, Sudan. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

The message from the senior United Nations officials to their staff was honest – if unapologetic. Four days after Sudan was plunged into a welter of chaotic violence as two rival factions battled for control of its capital city, the UN’s special representative to Sudan answered questions online in a virtual “townhall meeting”.

“This is the worst of worst case scenarios,” Volker Perthes said. “We tried even with last ditch diplomacy … last week and we have failed.”

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