Sudan’s Burhan rejects US pressure, says he needs no visa

Sudan’s military leader Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan has rejected international pressure over the war, after the United States withheld his visa to attend the annual United Nations General Assembly in New York.

Burhan’s comments on Saturday were his first public response to Washington’s decision, which has added pressure on Sudan’s military leadership to accept a proposed ceasefire.

US officials have linked the visa to a proposal for an unconditional three-month truce in Sudan, according to sources cited by Reuters. The proposal was presented by Massad Boulos, a senior US adviser on Arab and African affairs, as part of Washington’s efforts to end the war between Sudan’s army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

“We do not want a visa to any country or permission from anyone,” Burhan told a crowd of sports figures, content creators and others at Khartoum Stadium.

“We will stay here with you until we die here in this country,” he said.

Burhan, who heads Sudan’s ruling Sovereign Council, said the country would not bow to pressure or accept conditions imposed by other governments.

He also vowed to continue the military campaign against the RSF, rejecting any compromise with the paramilitary group.

“Our goal is to eliminate this militia, no matter the cost,” Burhan said, referring to the RSF. “Our goal is to cleanse Sudan all the way to Darfur.”

He said Sudanese forces would continue pursuing the RSF across the country.

“We will not let them go; we will reach them wherever they entered, place by place,” he said.

Burhan praised military personnel fighting on the front lines and young Sudanese supporting the war effort through social media, sports and community initiatives.

“We will raise the flag and the name of Sudan high,” he said, adding that he had made a commitment to the Sudanese people and those killed in the war that the national flag would not be allowed to fall.

Sudan’s army has been fighting the RSF since April 2023 in a conflict that has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced millions and created one of the world’s largest humanitarian and displacement crises.

The standoff over Burhan’s visa comes as Washington increases pressure on Sudan’s warring parties to agree to a ceasefire and begin a political process to end the conflict.

Sudan’s permanent representative to the United Nations, Al-Harith Idriss, had asked UN Secretary-General António Guterres to intervene with US authorities over the visa delay.

UN officials said they had raised the matter with Washington, while Guterres expressed serious concern over the non-issuance of the visa.

Under the 1947 UN headquarters agreement, the United States is generally required to facilitate access to the United Nations for foreign diplomats. Washington has nevertheless historically denied or restricted visas for foreign officials on national security and foreign policy grounds.

The US has not publicly confirmed that Burhan’s visa was formally denied or that its issuance was explicitly conditional on accepting the ceasefire proposal. A US State Department spokesman said Washington does not comment on individual visa cases.

Burhan’s rejection of the pressure underscores the gap between Washington’s push for a ceasefire and the position of Sudan’s military leadership, which has repeatedly said it will continue fighting until the RSF is defeated.

The conflict began in April 2023 after months of tensions between the army and the RSF over a proposed transition to civilian rule and the integration of the paramilitary force into the regular military.

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