Sudan fires scores of envoys allegedly linked to Bashir

KHARTOUM: Sudan has fired scores of diplomats for alleged links to the administration of toppled President Omar Al Bashir, a legal committee said on Saturday.

The Empowerment Removal Committee was formed under a law introduced in November to dismantle the system built by Bashir, who was ousted in April last year after nearly three decades in power.

“One-hundred-and-nine ambassadors, diplomats and administrators were fired from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and those were appointed through political and social empowerment,” Mohamed Al Faki, deputy head of the committee, told a news conference in the capital, Khartoum.

Some of the diplomats were appointed by Bashir himself and the others were picked through his now dissolved National Congress Party, said Taha Othman, a member of the committee.

Earlier this month, the committee dissolved the boards of the country’s central bank and 11 other state-owned banks and fired the managers of eight of the banks.

It also seized the assets of the former ruling party last month.

The decision to surrender Bashir to the ICC came after protracted talks between rebel groups, including from Darfur, and Sudan’s ruling body, which took power after Bashir’s ouster and arrest.

Three of his aides, including former defence and interior ministers, are also to be handed over to the court, although a timeframe has not yet been announced.

“If Bashir and his aides are not handed to the ICC, peace will never find its way to Darfur,” said Hassan Issac, another Darfuri living in Kalma.

Hassan Isaac Mohamed, a 72-year-old Darfuri, said he felt “relief” in the wake of a war that had decimated his family, killing his father and two brothers.

Government spokesman Faisal Mohamed told reporters on Wednesday that “details of how Bashir and others will be presented in front of the ICC will be discussed with the ICC and armed groups.”

Rights groups such as Amnesty International are pressing for a swift handover of the toppled strongman.

Since its creation in August, Sudan’s transitional government has been pushing to forge a peace settlement with rebel groups and to end conflicts across the country.

It has promised accountability and kept Bashir in Khartoum’s Kober prison on a string of charges including corruption.

In December, the veteran leader was sentenced to two years in a community reform centre over accusations of illegally acquiring and using foreign funds.