Head of Sudan’s disbanded former ruling National Congress Party and a former foreign minister Ibrahim Ghandour has been re-arrested on Monday less than a day after being released from jail.
Ghandour and several other allies of former President Bashir following a military coup last Monday had come under criticism from opponents of military rule.
Ghandour had been detained under orders of a task force intended to dismantle and prevent the return of Bashir’s three-decade rule, which ended in 2019.
After being released, Ghandour called on “the whole nation to start a process of national reconciliation. This country will not achieve prosperity for its people unless we all join hands to go through the interim period until we reach fair, free elections.
“We should all jump over our personal grievances and we look forward to unite our people.”
“I’m sure that we will all be supporting whatever national, non-partisan government that is to take over in the coming few days,” he added.
Ghandour was released with two former Bashir-era intelligence officials, two other Bashir allies, including businessman Abdelbasit Hamza, had also been released.
Sudan’s public prosecutor was also dismissed on Sunday night. The government spokesman’s office, still aligned with civilian authorities who were removed last week, said in a statement that the releases of Bashir-era figures “represent a setback against the state of institutions and the rule of law”.
The office said in a Facebook post, “This step makes clear the political cover for the coup and its real ideological orientation.”
Bashir is wanted by the ICC for alleged crimes against humanity during the conflict in Darfur, the region in western Sudan where at least 300,000 people were murdered and millions displaced from 2003. The World Bank and the United States froze aid, which will hit hard in a country already mired in a dire economic crisis.
