Sudan’s military-aligned authorities have called on the United Nations to take legal and institutional action against the United States over Washington’s refusal to grant army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan a visa to attend the UN General Assembly in September.
The demand was presented on Friday by Sudanese diplomat Ammar Mohammed Mahmoud during a meeting of the UN General Assembly’s Sixth Committee, which was reviewing the work of the Committee on Relations with the Host Country.
Mahmoud accused Washington of failing to meet its obligations under the 1947 UN Headquarters Agreement, arguing that the decision prevented Burhan, who heads Sudan’s Sovereignty Council, from participating in the annual high-level gathering in New York.
He said UN Secretary-General António Guterres had previously expressed concern over the visa refusal and urged the United States to fulfil its responsibilities as the organisation’s host country. However, those diplomatic efforts failed to secure Burhan’s attendance.
The Sudanese representative argued that hosting the UN headquarters carries international legal responsibilities and does not give Washington unrestricted authority to determine which foreign officials may participate in the organisation’s proceedings.
He maintained that political disagreements and bilateral tensions could not exempt the United States from its obligations under international agreements.
The Port Sudan authorities also demanded that the incident be formally documented, that relevant diplomatic correspondence be circulated among UN member states and that measures be introduced to prevent similar cases.
Mahmoud urged Guterres to consider activating the dispute-resolution mechanism established under Section 21 of the Headquarters Agreement, citing UN General Assembly Resolution 80/172.
The latest diplomatic move follows weeks of tensions between Washington and Sudan’s military leadership over Burhan’s exclusion from the September gathering.
The visa dispute emerged amid broader international efforts to secure a humanitarian truce in Sudan, where fighting between the military and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has continued since April 2023.
Washington’s decision prevented Burhan from personally addressing world leaders in New York, with Sudanese Foreign Minister Mohieddin Salim representing the Port Sudan authorities at the General Assembly instead.
The renewed appeal places the dispute before UN bodies responsible for examining host-country obligations, although no immediate decision on the Sudanese request has been announced.
