American politician Tom Perriello is about to assume his duties as special envoy to Sudan (Getty)

The Devex website reported that the US State Department is planning to appoint Tom Perriello as a new special envoy to Sudan, which has been witnessing 9 months of violent internal fighting between the army and the Rapid Support Forces.

The move comes months after Democratic and Republican lawmakers called for the appointment of a top problem-solver to help prevent one of Africa's largest countries from sliding deeper into civil war, ethnic cleansing, and one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.

This also coincided with the decision of the US Ambassador to Sudan, John Godfrey, in his capacity as the unofficial envoy, to step down from his position in the coming weeks, according to several diplomatic sources.

The Republican Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Michael McCaul, and the Democratic Representative, Gregory Meeks, issued a statement calling on US President Joe Biden and the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, to appoint a special envoy from the United States or the United Nations “to urgently bring the warring parties to the negotiating table.” and an end to hostilities."

Bad situation

Last December, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Ben Cardin and Republican Representative Jim Risch submitted a resolution supporting calls to appoint a high-level special envoy to help end the conflict in Sudan.

“Despite the global focus on the crises in Europe and the Middle East, the dire situation in Sudan, characterized by extreme suffering, widespread destruction and horrific crimes, should not be overlooked,” Risch said in a statement.

A Biden administration official said that in addition to the decision to include Periello, the US administration’s ambassador to Sudan, Godfrey, continues to press for peace from the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa. “The idea that there is no high-level participation is not true,” the official added.

Critics say Biden's Sudan policy has been a mess, pointing to what they see as a lack of high-level efforts and engagement in efforts to rein in the country's warring factions and their regional backers.

They point out that previous US presidents, including George W. Bush and Barack Obama, have appointed personal envoys to the White House to resolve US diplomatic challenges in Sudan, reflecting the high priority given to responding to the crisis.

The identity of the new envoy

 Efforts to choose a new envoy have lasted months, partly due to a disagreement over the new envoy's chain of command, according to a familiar observer.

Perriello is a former member of Congress from the Democratic Party. He lost the governor's race in 2017, and has little experience in Sudan, although he has served as a special envoy to Africa's Great Lakes region.

Last April, he resigned from his position as executive director of US programs at the Open Society Foundations.

When Perriello was introduced last year to take over the Sudan mission, he made a number of demands, including giving him the authority to appoint his staff, determine his travel needs, and giving him a direct line to report to US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken.

Blinken's office rejected the latest request, insisting that Perriello, like other State Department envoys, submit a report through the relevant office.

Perriello waived that requirement and accepted the job, and is currently awaiting the security clearance and vetting process that traditionally precedes senior appointments.

Perriello beat out several potential candidates, including Godfrey and Gayle Smith, the former administrator of the US Agency for International Development.

Criticisms and concerns

Last Thursday, Blinken met with lawmakers and informed them that he would likely announce a new envoy in the coming weeks, and that the envoy would be able to reach him when needed, according to two sources familiar with the conversation.

A Foreign Ministry spokesman declined to comment on the details of the recruitment process, saying, "We do not have any specific news to provide."

Experts on Sudanese affairs said they fear that Perriello's failed attempt to secure a direct line with Blinken and Biden may hinder his work before his first day in office.

"For me, as an observer of Sudan, what bothers me about all of this is that Blinken doesn't want to be involved," said former State and CIA analyst Cameron Hudson. "This is very damaging to our policy in Sudan. There is genocide happening in Sudan, and the country is on the verge of disintegration."

Perriello's appointment aims to demonstrate the United States' commitment to ending the conflict that has led to the deaths of more than 12,000 Sudanese and obstructed international efforts to help Khartoum develop its economy.

It is noteworthy that the current war has caused the displacement of nearly 8 million people, and led to the return of mass killings in Darfur, the site of genocide in the early 2000s.

Source: American press