Sudan, Khartoum According to the Sudanese News Agency, International Criminal Court Prosecutor Karim Khan landed in Khartoum late Saturday evening on a five-day official visit during which he will meet with senior Sudanese officials and tour Darfur (SUNA).
The visit is part of the International Criminal Court’s efforts to negotiate President Omar al-extradition Bashir’s to The Hague for trial on financial and political corruption accusations after the army ousted and imprisoned him in a protracted legal procedure.
The International Criminal Court is seeking to re-establish contacts that were severed after army commander Abdel Fattah al-Burhan deposed civilians from power in October of last year, including officials who were part of the team holding talks with the court mission.
The court has ordered the extradition of Bashir, two of his aides, and one of the rebel group leaders after they were charged with genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes during the Darfur conflict, which began in 2003, and an international summons was issued against him when he was in power.
Mr. Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court
Karim Khan and his accompanying group landed in Sudan late Saturday evening on an official visit from August 20 to 25, according to the Sudanese agency, adding that Khan will meet with high-ranking officials in the state and visit Darfur.
In reaction to the region’s political and economic marginalisation, African minority groups took up arms against the central authority, sparking the conflict.
In August 2021, the Criminal Court signed a cooperation contract with the transitional civilian administration, which was dissolved by the army chief, Abdel-Fattah Al-Burhan, in a military coup on October 25 last year.
The events in Sudan on October 25, as well as the subsequent insecurity and instability in the country, constitute a setback that poses considerable impediments to our work in Sudan, Khan said in a January report to the UN Security Council.
He went on to add that his office was obligated to terminate the deployment of his team in Sudan and all investigation activities immediately, and that several of the office’s principal interlocutors and coordinators no longer have positions in the Sudanese government.
The UN estimates that 300,000 people were killed and 2.5 million were displaced as a result of the Darfur crisis.
The transitional government struck an agreement with a number of regional rebel factions, but a prominent group, the Sudan Liberation Movement led by Abdul Wahid Nur, refused to sign the agreement in Juba, South Sudan, in October 2020.
In Khartoum, the International Criminal Prosecutor will begin negotiations for Al-extradition. Bashir’s
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