THE United Nations’ envoy to Sudan, a key mediator in the country’s brutal conflict, is no longer welcome there, Sudanese authorities say, as its warring sides agreed to a new 24-hour ceasefire.

A statement issued by Sudan’s Foreign Ministry late on Thursday comes just weeks after the head of the country’s military General Abdel Fattah Burhan demanded in a letter to envoy Volker Perthes that he should be removed from his post.

UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres has been notified that Mr Perthes has been formally declared persona non grata, the Foreign Ministry said.