New York — Lt Gen Abdelfattah El Burhan, president of the Transitional Sovereign Council (TSC) and commander-in-chief of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), delivered a speech at the 79th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) yesterday, sharply criticising international inaction. His remarks came as the SAF launched a major ground offensive in key areas of the capital Khartoum.
In his address, El Burhan decried the "double standards and selectiveness currently prevailing in international affairs", emphasising that "some states" in the region, without naming any, were "providing funding and mercenaries for their own political and military benefit, in flagrant violation of international law and will."
He further pointed a finger at the leader of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), Mohamed Hamdan 'Hemedti' Dagalo, directly. "The Dagalo family has been violating all laws and international obligations with impunity," El Burhan charged.
The SAF leader called on the UN to "shoulder its responsibility to protect developing countries in the face of the Everest of states who would like to control our people's riches through the use of force and money."
He further urged the international community to take firm action, questioning, "Why has the international system not taken any firm or dissuasive measures vis-à-vis this group and those who support it?"
'Illegitimate'
In a recorded statement addressed to the UNGA, RSF commander Hemedti strongly rejected El Burhan's legitimacy as Sudan's representative in New York. "The leadership of the SAF, which is allied with the leaders of the old regime, has continuously sought to obstruct efforts to make the political process successful," he said.
Hemedti further called El Burhan's participation an "encouragement of military coups and the growth of dictatorships on the African continent", accusing him of leading the October 25 military coup, which resulted in what Hemedti called the "complete constitutional collapse" of Sudan's transitional government.
Meanwhile, Cameron Hudson, a senior fellow in the Africa Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, noted to his followers on X that the SAF's offensive to retake Khartoum coincided with El Burhan's speech at the UN. "Feels like a coordinated approach to signal who the real authority in Sudan is," Hudson remarked.
Kenyan President William Ruto told CNN's Christiane Amanpour yesterday that "The revolution[...] was a people's revolution, which was hijacked by men in military uniform. And they have made a mess of the country."
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Diplomacy
On the diplomatic front, El Burhan held several bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the UNGA. According to the Sudanese Transitional Sovereignty Council page on X, these talks focused on the political, security, and humanitarian crises engulfing Sudan and the state of bilateral relations.
He met with UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Wednesday, as well as Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboulgheit, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, Central African Republic President Faustin-Archange Touadéra, and Kuwaiti Crown Prince Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al Hamad Al Sabah, among others
The 79th session of the UNGA has drawn world leaders to New York for the annual General Debate under the theme "Leaving no one behind: acting together for the advancement of peace, sustainable development and human dignity for present and future generations". The debate will conclude on Monday.
