The head of the Sovereignty Council and Commander of the Sudanese Army, Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, expressed his rejection of what he described as “blackmail,” declaring his unwillingness to obtain any travel visa and to remain inside Sudan, in reference to the United States’ decision not to grant him an entry visa to its territory to participate in the meetings of the United Nations General Assembly, last week.
Al-Burhan intended to lead his country's delegation to the eighty-first session of the United Nations General Assembly and deliver a speech in the general debate on September 24, but the United States refused to grant him an entry visa.
Reuters had quoted sources as saying that the issuance of the American visa was subject to Al-Burhan’s approval of a humanitarian truce proposed by Washington for a period of 90 days in the ongoing civil war between the army and the Rapid Support Forces since April 2023.
The truce plan was presented by Massad Boulos, US President Donald Trump's senior advisor for Arab and African affairs, but Al-Burhan rejected it and pledged to continue the war.
In an escalating tone while addressing a youth gathering in Khartoum to support the health sector in the country, Al-Burhan sent a message of challenge to Washington for not granting him an entry visa, saying: “We do not want a visa from any country, and we do not want permission from anyone... We will not back down, we will not bend, and we will not compromise.”
Al-Burhan closed the door on American proposals aimed at establishing an unconditional humanitarian truce, and stressed that Sudan will not submit to blackmail or external political pressures, expressing his asceticism in foreign participation by saying: “We live and die in our country, and we will not let anyone blackmail us, and there is no one to intimidate us.”
For his part, the Sudanese ambassador to Washington, Muhammad Abdullah Idris, said that Al-Burhan’s passport is still with the American embassy in Cairo, while the Sudanese representative to the United Nations requested the intervention of the Secretary-General to resolve the matter. The United Nations announced at the time that it had raised the issue with the American authorities.
Prisoner exchange initiative
In parallel, the UN Secretary-General's envoy to Sudan, Pekka Haavisto, revealed discussions with both sides of the civil war in Sudan regarding the exchange of prisoners and the release of civilian detainees, describing this as a step to build confidence between the army and the Rapid Support Forces.
Haavisto said that he discussed with both sides the issue of civilian detainees and the possibility of exchanging prisoners. He added, in an interview with the United Nations media, that both parties had established a mechanism to discuss these files with the United Nations, considering this a preliminary move, and not an announcement of an agreement to exchange prisoners.
He explained that the two sides of the war are still seeking to achieve military gains to strengthen their positions before negotiating, and that they are not ready to sit at the same table.
On the other hand, Al-Burhan renewed his pledge to continue the fight against the Rapid Support Forces, saying that the army will continue its advance to reach the Darfur region in western Sudan, which is controlled by the Rapid Support Forces. Al-Burhan renewed his pledge to continue military operations “until the complete elimination of the rebel militias and the cleansing of all Sudanese lands,” referring to the “Rapid Support Forces.”
Delegitimization
Last Tuesday, the United States criticized the absence of a “legitimate” authority in Sudan, considering that the two competing military forces did not make serious commitments to end the war in the country.
US State Department spokesman Tommy Piggott said: “Neither the Sudanese Armed Forces nor the Rapid Support Forces nor their leaders represent a legitimate and constitutional authority in Sudan. “It rules by force of arms alone.” He added in a statement that “the behavior of the leaders of the two warring factions makes them unfit to rule the country.”
The current visa crisis between Sudan and the United States comes after the Sudanese army-led government faced American pressure in recent weeks regarding accusations leveled by Washington against the Sudanese army of using chemical weapons during the ongoing war at least twice in 2024. American press reports spoke on September 6 of this year about a file containing about 150 documents, photos, video clips and audio recordings that reinforce the accusations against the army of developing and producing chemical munitions and using them during the war against the Rapid Support Forces. On July 20, US sanctions on Sudan came into effect, after Washington accused the government of not fulfilling the conditions stipulated in the Law on Combating Chemical and Biological Weapons within a three-month period.
Egypt is preparing to launch joint development projects in Sudan, including establishing a “new administrative city” in Khartoum, and Ministers of Foreign Affairs Badr Abdel-Ati and Minister of Transport Kamel Al-Wazir are preparing to go there to discuss the necessary arrangements.
Egyptian Assistant Foreign Minister and former ambassador to Sudan, Hani Salah, said on Saturday evening: “There is an upcoming visit by the Egyptian Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Transport to Sudan to begin preparing for the construction of a new administrative capital there.”
Sudan had previously requested the assistance of Egyptian expertise in establishing a “new administrative capital,” and Sudanese Prime Minister Kamel Idris said after talks with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in Cairo last February that he “discussed ways to strengthen bilateral relations, discussed improving the conditions of Sudanese residing in Egypt, and establishing a new administrative city in Sudan.”
Following a session of government talks between Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly and his Sudanese counterpart at the time, the joint statement stated that “the Egyptian side welcomed the Sudanese side’s request to benefit from Egyptian expertise in establishing a new administrative city, in line with the distinguished Egyptian experience in this field, and in support of reconstruction efforts in the brotherly Republic of Sudan.”
The proposal to establish a new administrative capital in Sudan was referred to again by Ambassador Hani Salah, who said during the farewell ceremony of the Sudanese ambassador in Cairo, Imad al-Din Adawi, on Saturday evening, that the Egyptian Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Transport “will visit Khartoum soon,” and pointed out that “among the goals of the visit is to begin preparing for the construction of a new administrative capital in Sudan.”
The “new capital” proposal comes at a time when Sudan is working to recover from the effects of internal war, develop the infrastructure damaged by the armed conflict, and begin the reconstruction phases.
Egyptian-Sudanese cooperation continues in the fields of electricity, and is developing in other fields and sectors to serve the interests of both countries, according to Salah.
Last July, the Sudanese Prime Minister held a government meeting during which he was informed of the arrangements for a visit by the Egyptian Minister of Transport to his country. The statement issued by the Sudanese government at the time indicated that the meeting “dealt with the agreements that will be signed with the Egyptian side to implement the projects of the administrative capital, one million homes, and land roads,” in addition to procedures for enhancing land transport between the two countries.
The former Sudanese Foreign Minister, Ali Youssef Al-Sharif, said that the Sudanese government is planning to establish new urban communities within the stages of post-war reconstruction. He added to Asharq Al-Awsat: “Khartoum aims to establish a new administrative city similar to the new capital in Egypt,” in addition to “establishing a million new homes within Sudanese cities.”
He went on to say: “The implementation process is scheduled to begin with the end of the internal war,” noting that “the goal of an Egyptian government delegation’s visit to Khartoum soon is to launch executive procedures to begin preparing for these projects.”
The Egyptian government inaugurated the new capital, east of Cairo, and announced it at an economic conference held in March 2015 to be a political and administrative headquarters for the state, and transferred ministries and government institutions to it. The new capital also includes a “diplomatic district” to relocate the headquarters of foreign embassies.
Director of the International Relations Unit at the Sudanese Center for Strategic Thought and Studies, Makki Al-Maghribi, believes that the goal “is not only the establishment of urban facilities, but rather a new vision for the Sudanese state, which includes establishing a new political and administrative capital away from the residential neighborhoods in Khartoum.”
He added to Asharq Al-Awsat: “Egyptian companies will have the largest share in the reconstruction operations, especially with the availability of tools and raw materials in the two countries.”
He said that this step is consistent with the desire of the two countries to develop relations and openness in various fields in a way that achieves results that benefit the two peoples.
