Bad Guy of the Week: Sudan's Ahmed Haroun

Catherine · **Posted:** Mon Mar 19, 2007 5:14 am

[url=http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/badguys/070301/bad_guy_of_the_week_sudans_ahm.htm]Bad Guy of the Week: Sudan's Ahmed Haroun
[/url]

After a 20-month investigation, the International Criminal Court this week named its first two war crimes suspects for attrocities committed in Sudan: Ahmed Haroun, the former interior minister in charge of Darfur (who now oversees "humanitarian affairs" for that government), and Ali Kushayb, a senior commander of the Janjaweed militias, widely blamed for much of the carnage in that region.

Both men stand accused of 51 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Haroun has dismissed the charges as politically motivated, but the prosecutor's statement makes for a compelling read. The document cites eyewitness accounts that tie both men to heinous acts in Darfur–including torture, murder, and mass rape–and links the government directly to the Janjaweed marauders.

Catherine · **Posted:** Tue Apr 17, 2007 10:55 am

Sudan Signals Acceptance of U.N. Peacekeepers

The Sudanese government has indicated to the United Nations Security Council that it will allow a second phase of U.N. peacekeepers to deploy, retreating from the long-held position that such a force would compromise its sovereignty. However, Khartoum has a history of reneging on promises to the U.N.

New York Times:

Sudan’s president, Omar Hassan al-Bashir, has repeatedly defied United Nations requests and pressure from governments elsewhere in Africa and around the world to permit international intervention in Darfur, saying such action would violate his country’s sovereignty.

But today [Monday], Sudan’s ambassador to the United Nations, Abdalmahmood Abdalhaleem, sent a letter to Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and the 15 member nations of the Security Council saying Sudan would now accept what is known as the “heavy support package” and hoped it would “proceed expeditiously.”

Bad Guy of the Week: Sudan's Ahmed Haroun

Who is online