US Withholds Visa for Al-Burhan, Conditions Issuance on Acceptance of Boulos Ceasefire Plan

Reuters reported that the United States has withheld an entry visa for President of the Transitional Sovereignty Council (TSC), General Abdel-Fattah Al-Burhan, to attend the United Nations General Assembly meetings in New York, just days before his scheduled address to the international body.

Reuters said Washington’s move to withhold the visa was linked to a condition that Al-Burhan agree to sign a proposal for a 90-day ceasefire put forward by U.S. Senior Advisor for Arab and African Affairs Massad Boulos, a condition rejected by the Sudanese side.

In the same context, the U.S. State Department declined to comment to Sudan Tribune on the information, saying only that “as a general rule, it does not comment on matters involving individual visa cases.”

Meanwhile, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed deep concern over reports that an entry visa had not yet been issued to the President of Sudan’s Transitional Sovereignty Council. In a statement, Guterres urged Washington to ensure that the visa is issued, in accordance with its obligations under the Headquarters Agreement, in time to allow Al-Burhan to personally participate in the work of the General Assembly. The statement stressed that the full participation of all delegations in the work of the organization is essential to its proper functioning.

The statement said that the UN Secretariat immediately raised the matter with the U.S. authorities and remains in contact with them on the matter.

In the same context, Sudan’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Al-Harith Idris Al-Harith, promptly sent a letter to Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, calling on him to intervene immediately with the host country’s authorities “at the highest appropriate level” after Washington refrained from issuing an entry visa to Al-Burhan.