Multiple news organizations reported that the United States has not issued a visa for Sudanese army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan to attend the U.N. General Assembly in New York, with anonymous sources saying attendance has been linked to acceptance of a U.S.-backed ceasefire proposal. The Event Record has not independently verified the visa decision or any official linkage condition, and the U.S. State Department has declined to discuss the specific visa case.
Al-Monitor carried a Reuters report saying Sudanese and other sources described the withholding as tied to a 90-day ceasefire proposed by U.S. Senior Advisor for Arab and African Affairs Massad Boulos—an approach Khartoum has resisted. A senior Sudanese source told Reuters Burhan had postponed the trip but had not yet received official notice of a denial. Sudan’s U.N. ambassador, in a Sept. 21 letter to Secretary-General António Guterres cited by Reuters/Al-Monitor, sought U.N. intervention, arguing that blocking attendance would violate host-country obligations.
AFP (opens in new tab) separately reported that sources said the United States had refused Burhan a visa, with one diplomatic source calling the withholding a “clear violation” of the U.N. headquarters agreement and another saying Washington had “conditioned the visa on Burhan accepting a three-month truce,” which Sudan’s government argues would allow the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) to regroup. The National (opens in new tab) reported that sources said the visa had not yet been issued and that Burhan had been due to deliver Sudan’s speech.
What is on the public record from named U.N. officials: U.N. spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said Guterres is “deeply concerned” that a visa has reportedly not yet been issued to the president of Sudan’s Transitional Sovereignty Council and urged the host country to issue visas consistent with Headquarters Agreement obligations; the Secretariat said it is engaging U.S. authorities. The National (opens in new tab) quoted a State Department representative declining comment on specific visa cases.
In a statement that did not address the visa, State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said neither the Sudanese Armed Forces, the RSF, nor their leaders “represent legitimate, constitutional governance for Sudan,” and that the United States would “seek to raise the cost of continued conflict on all belligerents,” according to Al-Monitor/Reuters and AFP (opens in new tab). AFP (opens in new tab) said Sudan is presently represented in New York by Foreign Minister Mohieldin Salem; Al-Monitor/Reuters likewise reported Salem may give the assembly address instead.
Context attributed to the same reports: war between the army and RSF began in April 2023; Burhan has previously spoken at the General Assembly; the United States has pursued mediation in a “Quad” format with the UAE, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia. Ceasefire-linkage claims remain attributed to anonymous Sudanese diplomatic, Western analyst, and other unnamed sources—not to an on-the-record U.S. policy announcement.