An attack on the prison holding deposed Sudanese strongman Omar al-Bashir has raised questions about his whereabouts, with one of the warring sides saying he is being held in a secure location and the other alleging he has been released.
Al-Bashir, who ruled Sudan for three decades despite wars and sanctions, was overthrown during a popular uprising in 2019. He is wanted by the International Criminal Court for genocide and other crimes committed during the conflict in Sudan’s western Darfur region in the 2000s.
Military officials told The Associated Press that al-Bashir, as well as Abdel-Rahim Muhammad Hussein and Ahmed Haroun - who held senior security positions during the Darfur crisis - had been moved to a military-run medical facility in Khartoum under tight security for their own safety. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter with media.
Both the military and the RSF have sought to portray themselves as allies of the country’s pro-democracy movement who are trying to restore its transition to civilian rule. But both have a long history of brutalizing activists and protesters, and they joined forces to remove civilian leaders from power in a coup less than two years ago.
Another activist who walked free, Ahmed al-Fatih, said he was willing to surrender at a police station but could not find any that were functioning amid the unrest, according to a statement released by his defense lawyers. Both activists said their lives were in danger at the prison as food and water ran low.
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