US Withholds Sudan Army Chief’s UN Visa Over Ceasefire

Marcus Bell · 2026-09-22T22:20:38.159Z

Holding the visa could push Burhan toward accepting a ceasefire and give Sudanese civilians a needed break from the fighting.

US Withholds Sudan Army Chief’s UN Visa Over Ceasefire — Photo: Kremlin.ru / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0)

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The United States is withholding an entry visa for Sudanese army chief and de facto leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan ahead of a planned U.N. General Assembly address. Burhan postponed his New York trip after failing to receive the visa. Foreign Minister Mohieldin Salem is attending in his place. Sudanese and Western diplomatic sources say Washington conditioned the visa on Burhan accepting a U.S.-backed 90-day ceasefire proposed by Massad Boulos, senior adviser for Arab and African Affairs. Sudan's army has resisted, objecting especially to Rapid Support Forces (RSF) withdrawal terms. The war between Sudan's army and the RSF, led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (Hemedti), began April 15, 2023. The U.S. presented the plan in June 2026. Sudan's U.N. ambassador Al-Harith Idriss Al-Harith wrote Secretary-General Antonio Guterres that should this situation persist, it would effectively prevent the Head of State of a Member State of the United Nations from participating in person in the work of the General Assembly. U.N. spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said the full participation of all delegations is essential to its proper functioning and that the Secretariat immediately raised the matter with U.S. authorities and continues to engage them. A diplomatic source called the withholding a clear violation of the U.N. agreement with the U.S. The visa outcome remains unresolved.