UNITED NATIONS: The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court urged Sudan’s transitional authorities on Wednesday to hand over or prosecute ousted President Omar Al-Bashir and four others for alleged war crimes in Darfur.
Fatou Bensouda told the UN Security Council she is ready to work with authorities “to ensure that the Darfur suspects face independent and impartial justice” either at the ICC in The Hague, Netherlands, or in Sudan if its court meets international standards.
Bensouda said she didn’t underestimate “the complexity and fluidity of the events unfolding in Sudan,” but declared it was now time to act and ensure that the ICC suspects face justice.
Negotiations on Sudan’s transition following Al-Bashir’s ouster in April collapsed after a violent crackdown on a protest camp in the capital Khartoum by security forces. Protesters demanding civilian rule say at least 128 people have been killed across the country since security forces moved in to clear the sit-in area outside the military’s headquarters on June 3. Authorities put the death toll at 61, including three from security forces.
Bensouda joined many council members in calling for an end to violence against civilians, including alleged sexual and gender-based crimes, which has spread beyond Khartoum to other regions, including Darfur.
“As for Sudan itself, it is now at a crossroads with the opportunity to depart from its previous policy of complete non-cooperation with my office and embark on a new chapter by signaling a new commitment to accountability for the victims in the Darfur situation,” she said.
Sudan is not a party to the ICC and Al-Bashir’s government refused to recognize its jurisdiction. Sudanese minister Elsadig Ali Ahmed told the council Wednesday that “despite the change of the political situation in Sudan ... our position remains the same, unchanged.”
He told the council that Sudan has begun “the pursuit of a civilian democratic rule where there is no room for impunity,” and the new political reality “will undoubtedly lead to the establishment of a regime where freedom and democracy and the rule of law prevail.”
For Sudan, he emphasized “that combating impunity is a noble purpose of justice ... and it primarily falls within the responsibilities of the national judiciary.” He called the ICC principle mentioned by Bensouda of letting national governments prosecute war crimes if their courts meet the right standards “positive.”
Al-Bashir appeared in public for the first time Sunday when he was led to a prosecutor’s office in a corruption investigation.
Ahmed said it has been announced that Al-Bashir’s trial will begin next week, and he said the public prosecutor is also investigating two other detainees sought by the ICC, Abdel Raheem Hussein and Ahmad Harun.
A judicial official with the prosecutor’s office said Al-Bashir was questioned over accusations that include money laundering and the possession of large amounts of foreign currency. He said the probe partly related to millions of dollars’ worth of cash in US dollars, euros and Sudanese pounds that were found in Al-Bashir’s home a week after his ouster.
Bensouda noted that the transitional military council now ruling Sudan made a commitment in its inaugural address on April 11 to all local, regional and international treaties, charters and conventions.
She said this pledge must including a commitment to the UN Charter, which requires Sudan to comply with Security Council resolutions — including the 2005 resolution that referred the situation in Darfur to the ICC.
The vast western Darfur region of Sudan was gripped by bloodshed in 2003 when rebels took up arms against the government in Khartoum, accusing it of discrimination and neglect. The government was accused of retaliating by arming local nomadic Arab tribes known as the janjaweed and unleashing them on civilian populations — a charge it denies.
Bensouda said Sudan has a legal obligation to surrender the suspects in custody or prosecute them on charges in ICC warrants — including genocide allegations against Al-Bashir — and to surrender two others still at large, senior janjaweed commander Ali Kushayb and Abdallah Banda, commander of the Justice and Equality rebel group. She stressed that this must include safe and unfettered access for ICC staff to Sudan and Darfur.
Elize Keppler, associate director for Human Rights Watch’s international justice program, said the situation in Sudan has changed and the new authority “has the opportunity to meet Sudan’s international legal obligations to surrender Omar Al-Bashir and the other suspects to face justice at the ICC as the Darfur victims so deserve more than 10 years later.”
ICC prosecutor calls on Sudan authorities to hand over Omar Al-Bashir
ICC prosecutor calls on Sudan authorities to hand over Omar Al-Bashir
- ICC chief prosecutor tells the UN Security Council she is ready to work with authorities to ensure Darfur suspects face justice
- Council members in calling for an end to violence against civilians
Six EU nations call for temporary Syria sanctions relief
- EU foreign ministers are set to discuss relaxing Syria sanctions during a meeting in Brussels on Jan. 27
EU foreign ministers are set to discuss relaxing Syria sanctions during a meeting in Brussels on Jan. 27.
European leaders began reassessing their policy toward Damascus after the ousting of president Bashar Assad by insurgent forces led by the Islamist Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), which is designated as a terrorist group by the United States and most other countries, as well as the United Nations.
The document, signed by Germany, France, the Netherlands, Spain, Finland and Denmark, said the EU “should immediately begin adjusting our sanctions regime.”
Nevertheless, the paper also warned that if EU expectations of respect for human rights and minorities are not met, further sanctions may not be lifted and a snapback mechanism could be applied to sanctions already removed.
The US last week issued a sanctions exemption for transactions with governing institutions in Syria for six months in an effort to ease the flow of humanitarian assistance.
The six EU members said the bloc should lift sanctions to facilitate civilian flights, reevaluate sanctions on high-value goods, remove an export ban on oil and gas technology, and reopen financial channels between the EU and Syria.
They also said sanctions against members of the Assad administration and its supporters should remain in place.
Lifting sanctions on HTS would have to be discussed at the United Nations level and coordinated with close partners, the paper said, adding that “it will depend on our joint assessment of the listed entity HTS and its leader (Ahmed) Al-Shara’a and of the evolution on the ground in Syria”.
Kaja Kallas, the bloc’s foreign policy chief, met Syria’s new foreign minister, Asaad Hassan Al-Shibani, on Sunday in Riyadh, where top Middle Eastern and Western diplomats gathered to discuss the situation in the country.
“Now is the time for Syria’s new leadership to deliver on the hope they have created – through a peaceful & inclusive transition that protects all minorities,” she said.
“Next, we will discuss with EU Foreign Ministers how to ease sanctions,” she added.
Tanker hit by Houthis salvaged, Red Sea disaster averted
- Extinguishing the fires on board took three weeks in difficult climate conditions
- Greece had urged all nations to assist with the case with political negotiations extending from the Houthis
ATHENS: A risky operation to salvage an oil tanker attacked by Houthi militants in the Red Sea and avert what could have been one of the largest oil spills in recorded history has been completed, British maritime security company Ambrey and Greece have said.
The 900-foot Greek-registered MT Sounion, carrying 150,000 tons of crude oil, was struck by several missiles and drones and caught fire on Aug. 21, triggering fears of an oil spill that could cause catastrophic environmental damage in the area.
Months later, the vessel has been declared safe and its cargo has been removed, said Ambrey, which led the salvage operation.
Greece had urged all nations to assist with the case with political negotiations extending from the Houthis, who eventually allowed salvage teams to tow the ship, to Saudi Arabia, a key player in the region.
“It’s a great relief, mainly due to the environmental disaster risk. It was a very complex operation,” Greek Shipping Minister Christos Stylianides told Reuters on Monday. “I feel relieved and content.”
In mid-September, Sounion, which was hit 58 miles off the Yemeni coast, was towed to a safe location 150 miles to the north by a flotilla of seven salvage vessels escorted by the European Union’s naval force Aspides.
Extinguishing the fires on board took three weeks in difficult climate conditions, Ambrey said, and the vessel was later towed north to Suez for her cargo to be removed.
More than 200 people and six companies — Megatugs Salvage & Towage, Diaplous, Offmain, Fire Aid, Pro Liquid and Ambipar Response, were involved in the projects.
As Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis visited Saudi Arabia on Monday, a Greek government official said the salvage of Sounion was pivotal in boosting bilateral ties.
Norway to host talks on Mideast two-state solution
- It will be the third meeting of the Global Alliance for the Implementation of the Two-State Solution
OSLO: Dozens of countries will send delegates to Norway on Wednesday as part of a global alliance aiming to find a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Norway’s foreign ministry said on Monday.
Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Mustafa, the head of the UN’s Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA Philippe Lazzarini, and UN envoy to the Middle East Tor Wennesland are among those due to attend.
It will be the third meeting of the Global Alliance for the Implementation of the Two-State Solution, whose creation was announced in September on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.
“While we must continue to work for an end to the war (in Gaza), we must also work for a lasting solution to the conflict that guarantees self-determination, security and justice for both the Palestinians and the Israelis,” Norway’s Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said in a statement.
“There is broad support for a two-state solution, but the international community must do more to make it a reality.”
Representatives of more than 80 countries and organizations are expected to take part in the meeting, though no official Israeli delegation has been announced.
Israel was angered when several countries — including Norway — decided to recognize the Palestinian state.
The war in Gaza, sparked by the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas’s attack on Israeli soil on October 7, 2023, has revived discussions of a two-state solution.
Analysts say however the possibility remains more remote than ever, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — firmly backed by US President-elect Donald Trump — vehemently opposed to the creation of a Palestinian state.
The first two meetings of the global alliance were held in Saudia Arabia in late October and in Brussels in late November.
Turkiye detains 2013 bombing suspect inside Syria
ANKARA: Turkiye’s intelligence agency conducted a cross-border operation inside Syria and seized a man suspected of perpetrating a 2013 bomb attack near the Syrian border that killed dozens of people, a Turkish security source said on Monday.
Twin car bombs ripped through the border town of Reyhanli in Hatay province on May 11, 2013, killing 53 people. At the time, Turkiye accused a group loyal to Syria’s then-President Bashar Assad of carrying out the attacks. Damascus denied any involvement.
Turkiye’s National Intelligence Agency (MIT) found out that Muhammed Dib Korali, who was suspected of planning the attack and providing the bombs, was inside Syria, the source said. The MIT captured him in a cross-border operation into Syria and handed him over to Hatay police, the source added.
Yusuf Nazik, a Turkish national who was sentenced to life in prison for planning the 2013 bomb attack, was also seized inside Syria by the MIT in 2018.
Iranian army takes delivery of 1,000 new drones
DUBAI: A thousand new drones were delivered to Iran’s army on Monday, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported, as the country braces for more friction with arch-enemy Israel and the United States under incoming US president Donald Trump.
The drones were delivered to various locations throughout Iran and are said to have high stealth and anti-fortification abilities, according to Tasnim.
“The drones’ unique features, including a range of over 2,000 kilometers, high destructive power, the ability to pass through defense layers with low Radar Cross Section, and autonomous flight, not only increase the depth of reconnaissance and border monitoring but also boost the combat capability of the army’s drone fleet in confronting distant targets,” the news agency added.
Earlier this month, Iran started two-months-long military exercises which have already included war games in which the elite Revolutionary Guards defended key nuclear installations in Natanz against mock attacks by missiles and drones.
