US sanctions leader of African state

Washington has accused Sudan’s Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan of choosing war over negotiation and deescalation in his country’s 21-month war

The US government has imposed sanctions on Sudan’s leader, General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, for leading an army that has targeted civilians in the African country’s ongoing civil war with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

The Treasury Department announced the move on Thursday, more than a week after Washington took similar action against Al-Burhan’s rival, RSF commander Mohammad Hamdan Daglo, also known as Hemedti, accusing him of genocide in the nearly two-year conflict.

Tens of thousands of people have been killed in Sudan, with millions more displaced, since mid-April 2023, when fighting broke out between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and RSF over the country’s planned transition to civilian rule. The UN has repeatedly warned that the northeastern African nation is on the verge of famine.

Numerous attempts at a ceasefire agreement, mediated by Saudi Arabia and the US in Jeddah, including those agreed upon by the warring parties, have all ultimately collapsed.

READ MORE: Colonial powers fueling Africa’s conflicts – Sudanese leader

On Thursday, the US Treasury Department accused Al-Burhan of “choosing war over good-faith negotiation and de-escalation” by refusing to participate in peace talks to end the fighting.

“Under Burhan’s leadership, the SAF’s war tactics have included indiscriminate bombing of civilian infrastructure, attacks on schools, markets, and hospitals, and extrajudicial executions,” the department stated.

In a separate statement, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the army’s “deliberate obstruction” of the flow of aid to millions of Sudanese has contributed to the world’s largest humanitarian crisis. According to him, over 25 million Sudanese are facing acute food insecurity, with more than 600,000 experiencing famine.

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“Al-Burhan has obstructed the advancement of peace, including by refusing to participate in international ceasefire talks in Switzerland in August 2024. Al-Burhan has repeatedly obstructed the political transition to a civilian government,” Blinken stated.

Washington’s measure against the army chief also targeted a Hong Kong-based company that allegedly supplies weapons to the SAF.

Their properties in the US will be blocked, and Americans are barred from dealing with them, the Treasury Department said. It has, however, authorized certain transactions, including those involving the warring generals, in order to avoid impeding humanitarian assistance.

In response, the Sudanese Foreign Ministry issued a statement denouncing the US sanctions on the country’s de facto leader as a “flawed” and an “unethical” decision.

“The [Biden] administration’s move, days before the end of its tenure, to sanction the Commander-in-Chief of SAF, who is protecting the Sudanese people from this genocidal design, reflects inconsistency and a profound failure to uphold justice,” the ministry stated.

Over the weekend, Al-Burhan accused “colonial powers” of fueling conflicts in Africa when he met with Guinea-Bissau’s president, Umaro Sissoco Embalo, and Mali’s interim leader, Assimi Goita, in their respective countries during a tour of neighboring states.

READ MORE: Colonial ghosts: The hidden hands behind Africa’s shadow conflicts