Page 10 - aruba-today-20190413

A10 WORLD NEWS
Saturday 13 april 2019

Sudan army removes leader, rejects al-Bashir extradition

By MAGGIE MICHAEL erlands, saying doing so judges rejected a request Bashir’s inner circle. Zein eventually disperse the
Associated Press would be “an ugly mark on by the court’s prosecu- Abedeen confirmed the sit-in by force. But at least
CAIRO (AP) — The Suda- Sudan.” tor to open an investiga- media reports Friday with- initially, it appears to be
nese military on Friday swift- “Even rebels carrying tion into war crimes and out specifying the two men. trying to persuade protest
ly replaced the country’s organizers to end the cam-
transitional leader linked paign.
to the Darfur genocide af- Speaking at a news con-
ter street rallies against him ference aired live on state
and said that it wouldn’t TV and flanked by other
hand over ousted President uniformed officers, Zein
Omar al-Bashir to the In- Abedeen insisted the army
ternational Criminal Court, has no ambition to hold the
where he faces charges of reins of power for long.
crimes against humanity. “If within a month, Sudan
Thousands of jubilant pro- became able to run it-
testers celebrated in the self without chaos, we are
streets after Defense Min- ready to leave even after a
ister Gen. Awad ibn Ouf, month. The maximum is two
who was name de facto years,” he said. He said the
leader after overthrowing military would only appoint
al-Bashir on Thursday, an- the defense and interior
nounced he was stepping ministers in any transitional
down as transitional lead- government and would not
er. He named a reputable interfere.
army general as his succes- “This was not a coup,” but
sor. a “tool of change,” he
Ibn Ouf said he would be said. “We came ... to guide
replaced by Gen. Abdel- the country forward.”
Fattah Burhan, general Demonstrators gather in Sudan’s capital of Khartoum, Friday, April 12, 2019. But protest organizers re-
inspector of the armed Associated Press jected the military’s assur-
forces, as head of the tran- ances, calling them “de-
sitional council, which will weapons, we don’t extra- crimes against humanity in An ICC spokesman de- ception and farce.”
rule the country for two dite them,” he told report- Afghanistan and alleged clined to comment on al- The Sudanese Profession-
years until elections. ers at a news conference in crimes by U.S. forces there, Bashir’s case. On Thursday, als Association, which has
“I am confident he will steer Khartoum. in part because the U.S., Amnesty International and spearheaded the four
the ship to safe shores,” he Zein Abedeen said Suda- Afghan government and Human Rights Watch urged months of demonstrations
said of Burhan, adding he nese courts would hold al- Taliban are not expected the Sudanese military to against al-Bashir, said the
was stepping aside to “pre- Bashir “accountable,” but to cooperate. hand over the ousted lead- “coup leaders ... are not
serve unity” of the armed did not specify what charg- In the Darfur conflict, rebels er. “Victims of the gravest eligible to bring change,”
forces. es he could be prosecuted among the territory’s ethnic crimes in Darfur should not and repeated demands for
Burhan’s record appears on. After his arrest, the mili- Central African community have to wait any longer the “immediate handover
to be cleaner than the rest tary denounced him and launched an insurgency in for justice,” said Jehanne of power to a civilian tran-
of al-Bashir’s generals, and his government for corrup- 2003, complaining of dis- Henry, associate director at sitional government.”
he is not known to be im- tion, maladministration and crimination and oppression Human Rights Watch. At the sit-in, the mood was
plicated in war crimes or “lack of justice.” by the Arab-dominated Meanwhile, Zein Abedeen festive. Some protesters
wanted by international The developments point to Khartoum government. sought to reassure protest- brought in mattresses, fans
courts. He was one of the the sensitivity of the Darfur The government respond- ers who, while celebrating and even air condition-
generals who reached out conflict for the military that ed with a scorched earth al-Bashir’s removal, op- ers, while others swept the
to protesters at the week- arrested al-Bashir after four assault of aerial bomb- pose the military’s seizure streets to keep them clean,
long encampment near months of deadly street ings and unleashed the of power. After ousting signaling they intend to stay
the military headquarters, demonstration against his Janjaweed. Up to 300,000 the president, the military long-term. As thousands of
meeting with them face to 30-year rule. people were killed and announced it would rule Muslim worshippers lined
face, and listening to their The protesters rejected ibn 2.7 million driven from their the country for two years up in the street to hold
views. Ouf’s leadership because homes. through a transitional coun- prayers, Christians among
Chants rang out across the he was head of military in- Along with al-Bashir, the cil. It also suspended the the protesters held blankets
sit-in where tens of thou- telligence during the brutal ICC has indicted two other constitution, dissolved the over them to shade them
sands have been rallying in campaign to suppress the senior figures in his regime government, declared a from the sun in a show of
front of the military head- Darfur insurgency in the — Abdel-Rahim Muham- three-month state of emer- solidarity.
quarters to protest the mili- 2000s. The United States mad Hussein, who was in- gency and imposed a There were also signs of
tary takeover of power af- has imposed sanctions terior and defense minister night-time curfew. cracks among al-Bashir’s
ter al-Bashir’s ouster. “Revo- on him since 2007, saying during much of the con- Protest organizers have former loyalists. On Friday,
lutionaries, we will continue he armed and directed flict, and Ahmed Haroun, a vowed not to end their the commander of Su-
our path,” the protesters pro-government militias senior security chief at the street action until a civil- dan’s feared Rapid Sup-
shouted as they danced known as the Janjaweed, time who last month was ian transitional council is port Force, a paramilitary
and clapped. accused of widespread named by al-Bashir to run formed, saying rule by mili- force, expressed support
Earlier Friday, another top atrocities against civilians the ruling National Con- tary commanders who for for the protesters, saying
general, Omar Zein Abe- and rapes during the con- gress Party. years were al-Bashir loyal- the forces will not “accept
deen said that the 75-year- flict. Both were among those ists is just an extension of his any solutions rejected by
old al-Bashir would not The move also underscores reported by the Sudanese regime. the Sudanese people” and
be extradited to the Inter- the limits on the reach of media to have been ar- The curfew and state of called for dialogue so Su-
national Criminal Court, the International Crimi- rested Thursday in a sweep emergency have raised dan would “avoid slipping
based in The Hague, Neth- nal Court. On Friday, ICC by the military against al- fears the military could into chaos.”q