Rhino: Africa Intelligence revealed on Wednesday that the Sudanese Armed Forces, led by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, is increasing its communication initiatives and expanding its team of lobbyists inside the United States of America in order to “improve Burhan’s image.” The newspaper said that the lobbying firm “Ballard Partners,” which was hired by the Sudanese Embassy in Washington, D.C., is loyal to Burhan.

The newspaper added: “The lobbying firm Ballard Partners, which was hired by the Sudanese Embassy in Washington – loyal to General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan – at the end of October, hired a second firm, VS Global, to subcontract part of this contract worth 50 thousand dollars per month, for more than six months, until April 2025. For $120,000, VS Global will assist Ballard’s partners in its “advisory activities for Sudan.”

The contract became effective on Nov. 1 and was published in the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) registry of the U.S. Department of Justice.

The contract was passed between Brian Ballard, who is known to be close to US President-elect Donald Trump, and VS Global president Vinoda Basnayake, a former member of the lobbying firm Squire Patton Boggs (SPB). The firm previously worked in 2017 for the administration of ousted former Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir (2019-1989). It tried, unsuccessfully, to lift US sanctions on Sudan.

Sanctions affecting Sudan’s armed forces should also be at the center of Vinoda Basnayake and VS Global’s lobbying work with the incoming Trump administration. In fact, since the start of the war, numerous executives and entities associated with both warring parties have been placed under sanctions measures by the US Treasury Department (Amnesty International, “08/29/24/29”)