UNITED NATIONS — Sudan’s military leader is openly defying a U.S.-backed ceasefire push after Washington withheld his visa to attend the U.N. General Assembly, exposing a widening rift over a war that has become not only one of the world’s worst humanitarian disasters, but also a regional struggle for influence stretching to the Red Sea. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, head of Sudan’s armed forces and de facto leader, had been expected in New York during UNGA before the Trump administration withheld his visa amid a dispute over a proposed 90-day humanitarian truce.
Days later, Burhan struck a defiant tone from Khartoum. "We will keep our heads high. We will not accept bargaining, sell ourselves cheaply to anyone or bow to anyone," Burhan said Saturday, according to Anadolu Agency.
"We do not need a visa to any country or anyone’s permission." WORLD LEADERS DESCEND ON NEW YORK FOR UNGA — BUT WHO REALLY HAS AMERICA’S EAR? The State Department has accused both Burhan’s Sudanese Armed Forces, or SAF, and the rival paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, of failing to make serious commitments to an immediate truce. "Neither the Sudanese Armed Forces, the Rapid Support Forces, nor their respective leaders, represent legitimate, constitutional governance for Sudan," State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said Sept. 22, adding that the conduct of both leaders renders them "ineligible to govern the country." The State Department said both sides had instead intensified combat operations and drone strikes that killed civilians and said Washington had repeatedly asked them to accept a humanitarian truce "without preconditions" and commit to an inclusive political dialogue leading to civilian government.
But a senior advisor to Burhan disputed Washington’s account in an on-camera interview with Fox News Digital on the sidelines of UNGA. SUDAN'S FORGOTTEN WAR LEAVES MILLIONS HUNGRY AS GLOBAL ATTENTION REMAINS ELSEWHERE Dr. Amjad Farid Al-Tayyib, the foreign affairs advisor to Sudan’s Transitional Sovereignty Council, said Sudan never rejected the American ceasefire proposal and instead submitted technical comments on it.
"We never rejected this proposal," Farid said. "The Sudanese government wants war with no one." Farid said a negotiating team had intended to accompany Burhan and accused Washington of undermining the very diplomatic process it was seeking to advance by preventing the delegation from traveling. The State Department declined to comment on Burhan’s specific visa case, citing its policy of not discussing individual visa decisions.
A State Department spokesperson told Fox News Digital on background that Washington is instead focused on a broader diplomatic framework with Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the UAE through the Quad, linking a humanitarian truce and sustained aid access to a permanent ceasefire, civilian transition and reconstruction. "We are working with our partners to encourage the parties to agree to the humanitarian truce and guarantee humanitarian access, and to also ensure external military or financial support to the warring parties is cut off," the spokesperson said. The spokesperson added that the Quad supports the Quintet-led civilian political track and rejects parallel diplomatic processes that could fragment negotiations.
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