Sudan rejects US questioning of legitimacy after Al-Burhan visa row

The Sudanese government on Wednesday rejected US statements questioning the legitimacy of the institutions governing the country, affirming its adherence to its “national sovereignty” and calling on Washington to engage constructively.

The rebuke followed statements from US State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott, who said that the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces, as well as their leaderships, do not represent “legitimate, constitutional governance for Sudan.”

In a statement Wednesday, the Sudanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation said it “categorically rejects” the remarks, emphasizing that any peace initiative must be based on respect for “Sudan’s sovereignty, unity, territorial integrity and legitimate national institutions,” and must address the root causes of the ongoing war, chief among them “negative external intervention.”

The diplomatic clash coincided with Washington’s refusal to grant Sudanese army chief and head of the Transitional Sovereignty Council, Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, an entry visa to the United States to participate in UN General Assembly meetings, despite his address having been scheduled for Thursday. 

A Sudanese diplomatic source and a Western analyst close to US and Sudanese officials noted that issuing the visa appears linked to Al-Burhan agreeing to a 90-day ceasefire proposed by Massad Boulos, senior advisor to the US president for Arab and African affairs.

Washington has not officially confirmed that the visa is tied to Al-Burhan’s position on the truce, and a Sudanese source told Reuters that Al-Burhan had not received formal notification of a visa denial, but had postponed his travel to New York. Foreign Minister Mohieddin Salem will deliver Sudan’s address to the General Assembly instead of Al-Burhan.

The Sudanese army had previously expressed reservations about the US truce proposal, while Al-Burhan wrote in an article published by Foreign Policy magazine that he rejects any external dictates regarding the war, arguing that previous ceasefires allowed the Rapid Support Forces and their backers to regroup.

In an attempt to resolve the visa crisis, Sudan’s ambassador to the United Nations, Harith Idriss Harith, called on UN Secretary-General António Guterres to intervene with US authorities.

According to Reuters, the ambassador stated in a letter dated Sept. 21 that the continued withholding of the visa would prevent the head of a UN member state from participating in person in the proceedings of the General Assembly arguing that this contradicts the organization’s obligations toward member states.

Guterres expressed “deep concern” over the non-issuance of the visa to al-Burhan, according to his spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric.

The issue has also raised debate over the UN Headquarters Agreement in New York, which governs the obligations of the United States as the host nation for the organization. AFP noted that the agreement is not supposed to allow restrictions on the travel of member-state representatives to the UN, though precedents exist of the US taking similar measures.

Coinciding with the visa dispute, the US administration hardened its stance against both warring parties. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio described mediation efforts to end the war as “frustrating,” stating that the conflicting parties had previously agreed to arrangements and signed them, only to fail to implement them.

He added that every time progress seems possible, one side backtracks in the belief that it can achieve military gains, pointing also to the role of external actors in prolonging the war.

The United States is participating in mediation efforts alongside Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates as part of the Quartet group, which seeks to reach a truce that would enable a transition to a political track.

The crisis over Al-Burhan comes amid growing tension between Washington and the Sudanese army, driven in part by a US proposal to expand the arms embargo imposed on Darfur to include the rest of Sudan, a step opposed by Al-Burhan’s supporters on the grounds that it would impose greater restrictions on the military.

Concurrently, Washington is pressing to end the war that erupted in April 2023 between the army and the Rapid Support Forces, which has displaced more than 14 million people according to UN estimates and triggered one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.

A UN fact-finding mission stated this month that foreign arms, military technology, fighters, and logistical networks are contributing to prolonging the conflict and increasing the warring parties’ ability to execute long-range attacks against civilian areas.