Trump’s blackmail over Sudan

The United States has suspended the granting of an entry visa to the only Sudanese leader recognised by the international community, Abdel Fattah al Burhan, who is due to arrive in New York in a few days’ time to address the UN General Assembly. According to a letter intercepted by Reuters and sent to the UN Secretariat by the Sudanese representative at the UN headquarters, the United States is reportedly using the granting of the visa as a means of blackmail: if Burhan rejects the American plan for a 90-day ceasefire, he will not be granted permission to enter the United States. This is the first time the Americans have made the granting of a visa to a foreign leader conditional on the signing of an international agreement. The American blackmail of the Khartoum leader is seen as an affront, particularly as his rival Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, commander of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), is instead accused of genocide by the United Nations for last year’s al-Fashir massacre, in which tens of thousands of civilians were tortured and massacred by the RSF.

Burhan’s address to the UN has been eagerly awaited for months, as he is expected to level serious accusations against Dagalo’s main sponsor, the United Arab Emirates, as amply demonstrated by the latest report from the UN Panel of Experts. However, Massad Boulos, Trump’s brother-in-law who oversees the Sudanese dossier, has often shown a certain inclination to play into Abu Dhabi’s hands. Last week, pressed by a Sky News Arabia journalist who asked whether he was prepared to admit that the Emirates were sending arms to the RSF, he replied with a Pilate-like “naming names isn’t important”. Boulos had also proposed extending the arms embargo to the whole country – and no longer just to Darfur – so as to target Khartoum as well. If Burhan were indeed denied entry to the United States, Trump’s message would be twofold and striking: on the one hand, he would be deciding to officially come to the defence of a paramilitary group accused of genocide. On the other, he would be demonstrating that he has no interest whatsoever in peace in Sudan.