Sudan: Washington withholds Burhan’s visa ahead of UN, Khartoum appeals to Guterres

The United States had still not issued a visa for General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the head of the army and president of Sudan’s Transitional Sovereign Council, as of Tuesday, September 22, just days before his scheduled address at the UN General Assembly in New York. Khartoum has reached out to Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to request his immediate intervention.

In a letter dated September 21, Sudan’s ambassador to the UN, Al-Harith Idriss Al-Harith, warned that the lack of a visa would effectively prevent the Sudanese leader from attending the General Assembly in person. According to Reuters, a Sudanese diplomatic source and a Western analyst close to American and Sudanese officials believe that the issuance of the visa appears to be linked to Burhan’s acceptance of a proposed 90-day ceasefire by Massad Boulos, the American advisor for Arab and African affairs.

The U.S. State Department and Sudanese authorities had not publicly commented on this condition as of Tuesday. UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric stated that the Secretary-General was deeply concerned about the absence of a visa and that the Secretariat had immediately contacted U.S. authorities.

This standoff comes as Burhan publicly expresses his defiance towards externally imposed solutions. On September 19, he stated that Sudan’s issues should be resolved through internal dialogue and rejected “external agendas.” In an op-ed published this week, he also argued that previous pauses in fighting had allowed the Rapid Support Forces to reorganize.

Tensions with Washington have already escalated over international sanctions. Burhan recently rejected the U.S. proposal to extend the arms embargo to all of Sudan, arguing that it would penalize the army in the face of the Rapid Support Forces.

In New York, Sudanese civil forces opposed to the war called on Monday for the UN Secretary-General and the Security Council to support an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, the protection of civilians, and the extension of the arms embargo. This position contrasts with that of Burhan’s camp regarding the conditions for halting the fighting.

The war between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces has been ongoing since April 2023 and has led to what the UN describes as the world’s most severe humanitarian crisis. Burhan is scheduled to speak at the General Assembly on Thursday, September 24. In the meantime, Sudan is represented in New York by its Foreign Minister, Mohieldin Salem.