The long-term ruler of Sudan, Omar al-Bashir, wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) by arrest warrant, is said to be staying in a military hospital, according to the army. The Sudanese military thus put an end to the guesswork about Bashir’s whereabouts today. The 79-year-old is being treated in a military hospital in Khartoum and is being guarded by the police, according to a statement on the army’s Facebook page. The military statement could not be checked independently.
Previously there had been conflicting information about Baschir’s whereabouts. Bashir, who ruled Sudan in an authoritarian manner for 30 years, was actually in Kobar prison in Khartoum after being convicted. According to media reports, the prison police released the prisoners over the weekend because they were unable to provide them with basic supplies. The International Criminal Court (ICC) has been looking for Baschir since 2009 with an arrest warrant for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Darfur conflict.
Attack on SOS Children’s Village
The transfer of Bashir to a military hospital came amid a power struggle between the army and the paramilitary in the Horn of Africa country. De facto President Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who is also the supreme commander of the army, wants to use the military to oust his deputy Mohammed Hamdan Daglo. He is the leader of the influential paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
In Khartoum, the situation of the people is getting worse and worse. The aid organization SOS Children’s Villages recently announced that its facility in the capital had been attacked by gunmen. The children and young people being looked after as well as the employees had to be evacuated.
