Omar al Bashir, other suspected war criminals to be handed over to ICC – Sudanese minister

JUBA – A senior Sudanese government official has said that the cabinet in a meeting on Saturday agreed to handover the country’s former president, Omar Hassan Ahmed al Bashir, and three unnamed other officials to the International Criminal Court.

Speaking to journalists during a press conference held in the capital Khartoum on Saturday, Buthaina Dinar, the Sudanese minister of federal affairs, said the government has come to a conclusion to hand over al Bashir and others wanted on war crimes to the ICC.

“The government has decided to hand over Bashir and other criminals to the ICC after the adoption of the ICC procedures,” the senior government official said during the news conference held at the headquarters of the state-owned Sudan News Agency (SUNA).

Dinar further added that the handover would follow the end of Bashir’s trial on corruption and other crimes in local courts.

Bashir and three other officials were indicted by the Hague-based court on charges, including war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity.

The latest government decision to hand over the former president to the international justice comes one month after a visit in May by the prosecutor of the International Criminal; Court Fatou Bensouda in which she appealed to the leaders of Sudan to hand over the suspects.