Sudan will prosecute Bashir but won't hand him over, military says

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Sudan's ruling military council will prosecute deposed President Omar al-Bashir but will not extradite him, a military officer said Friday.

In a press conference, the head of transitional military council’s political committee Lt. General Omar Zein Alabedin vowed to try Bashir, forced out of power in a military coup on Thursday morning, and said that the army would help pave the path to democratic transition.

Bashir faces five counts of crimes against humanity and two counts of war crimes at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague in connection with Sudanese military actions in Darfur between 2003 and 2008.

The United Nations human rights office called on Sudan on Friday to cooperate with the ICC.

The ICC issued two arrest warrants for Bashir, first in March 2009 and then in July 2010. It now considers him to be “at large.”

Joy turns into fear

Protesters who rushed on to the streets to celebrate the ouster of the Sudanese strongman are facing the prospect of a long struggle ahead as the military figures who ended his 30-year rule seem to be preparing to hang on to power.

As news of Bashir’s downfall was still reverberating around the world, a military council dissolved the government, suspended the country’s constitution and declared a three-month state of emergency. The military said it will remain in control for at least two years to oversee a “transition of power,” leading to dismay from protesters and outside observers that elections will not be held anytime soon.

On Thursday, regime forces and regime-aligned militia killed 13 peaceful protesters with live ammunition, according to the Central Committee of Sudan Doctors. Two of the dead were killed in Khartoum, one dead in Atbara and eight were killed in Darfur, according to CCSD. In a statement, the African Union said that a military takeover “is not the appropriate response to the challenges facing Sudan and the aspirations of its people.”

Fall of a dictator

Bashir took control after a coup in 1989 and became President in 1993. He stands accused of conducting a campaign of ethnic cleansing in the country’s Darfur region, and was nearly arrested in 2015 while visiting South Africa.

At 3:30 a.m. on Thursday, Bashir was visited by the heads of his four main security apparatuses and was told “there was no alternative” but for him to step down, two senior military sources with direct knowledge of the conversation told CNN.

According to the sources, Bashir responded by saying “with the blessings of God,” an expression of acquiescence in Islamic tradition.

Bashir is under house arrest, according to sources. His personal guard has been replaced and is under close watch, sources added. Sudanese Prime Minister Mohamed Taher Ayala and Ahmed Haroun, the head of the ruling National Congress Party, were among dozens of officials who were also arrested, a top military official with direct knowledge of the arrests told CNN.

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