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Akıncı Gives Sudan’s Army Total Command of the Skies
KHARTOUM— Sudan's Transitional Sovereignty Council chairman and army commander, Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, told a crowd of some 40,000 packed into Khartoum Stadium on Saturday that his country would bow to no foreign pressure or blackmail. According to army sources, attendance reached 40,000, with the stands completely full and crowds gathering outside. The audience of athletes, content creators and young people repeatedly interrupted Burhan's speech with chants and applause.
The address was Burhan's first public appearance since Washington refused him a visa to attend the UN General Assembly. US officials had made his attendance in New York contingent on his acceptance of a 90-day ceasefire proposed by Massad Boulos, the US senior adviser for Arab and African affairs. Foreign Minister Mohieldin Salem delivered Sudan's General Assembly address in his place.
"We do not want a visa from any country or permission from anyone; we are pressing ahead with cleansing the country of the filth of rebellion," Burhan told the crowd. According to statements published on the Sovereignty Council's official accounts, Burhan said: "Our heads will remain high; we will not accept bargaining, and we will not sell ourselves cheaply to anyone."
Stressing that the country "will not respond to any pressure or blackmail," Burhan reiterated that the goal is "to eliminate the rebel militia and uproot it from the national soil." "We will stay here with you until we die in this country," he said, adding that Sudan would not accept conditions imposed by other governments.
Burhan saluted the young people fighting on the front lines and the athletes competing "on the green fields." He also thanked young people backing the war effort on social media and promised that the military leadership would not back down from its campaign to defeat the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). "We promised the Sudanese people and the martyrs that the nation's flag will never be lowered," he said.
The enthusiasm of the 40,000 who filled the stadium was widely interpreted in Sudan as an answer to the US visa decision. Earlier in the week, Sudanese activists on social media had called the decision "political pressure," and journalist Diaa Al-Din Bilal argued that keeping Burhan out of New York would not force him to accept the US position but could instead boost his popularity and rally support around him. Saturday's scene appeared to bear that prediction out: posters of Burhan were unfurled in the stands, and the crowd recorded and shared the speech on their phones.
Circles close to the government are presenting the stadium turnout as "a demonstration of the true will of the Sudanese people" and argue that the visa row has strengthened a sense of national unity in Khartoum. Some Sudanese users also criticized what they called a double standard, noting that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, wanted by the International Criminal Court, was granted a visa while Burhan was not.
The US State Department declined to comment on Burhan's visa. Spokesman Tommy Pigott said that neither the Sudanese Armed Forces, the RSF nor their leaders "represent legitimate, constitutional governance for Sudan," adding that Washington "stands ready to work with anyone who is a serious partner for peace in Sudan" and would in the meantime seek to raise the cost of continued conflict on all belligerents. Washington wants both sides to accept a humanitarian truce and commit to an inclusive political dialogue leading to a civilian government.
Sudan's army voiced reservations about the Boulos ceasefire proposal in July. Diplomatic sources in Khartoum say Burhan rejects the "take-it-or-leave-it" approach but maintains that any proposal is open to amendment.
The war between the army and the RSF, which began in April 2023, has now passed the three-year mark. According to aid worker estimates, the conflict has killed more than 200,000 people and produced the world's largest hunger and displacement crises.
