US denies Sudan's de facto leader al-Burhan visa for UNGA

Sudan's de facto leader and army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan attends the Sudanese Premier League's opening football match between Al Merrikh and Ahli Madani at the Kober Stadium in Khartoum North, on May 15, 2026. [AFP]

The United States is refusing to give Sudan's de facto leader, army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, a visa to travel to New York to address the UN General Assembly, two diplomatic sources told AFP Tuesday.

Burhan, whose army has fought the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces since April 2023, was scheduled to address the UN on Wednesday. He has addressed the council before, twice since the war broke out.

One diplomatic source said the US withholding the visa was a "clear violation of the UN's agreement with the US".

Another said the US, which has repeatedly pushed for Sudan truce talks, had "conditioned the visa on Burhan accepting a three-month truce", which the government says would only allow the RSF to regroup and attack.

The agreement establishing New York as the site of the UN headquarters says the United States should not impose any impediments on member state representatives' travel.

Sudan is presently being represented in New York by Foreign Minister Mohieldin Salem.

The US has tried, along with Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, to bring Burhan and his former deputy RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo to the negotiating table.

Burhan's internationally recognised government cemented power in a 2021 coup with Daglo's support as his right-hand man, but the pair fell out in a power struggle.

Since 2023, their war has killed more than 200,000 people, aid workers estimate, and caused the world's largest hunger and displacement crises.