Former Sudanese Senior Official Ahmed Haroun, Who Is Wanted By The ICC, Leaves Prison, Expresses Support For Sudanese Army Loyal To Burhan, Declares: Regional And International Powers Are Behind Infighting

Al-Jazeera Network (Qatar) aired an April 26, 2023 recorded statement by Ahmed Haroun - a former Sudanese senior official who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes committed in Darfur - upon his release from prison amid the internal violent conflict. He expressed his support for the army controlled by Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, the Chairman of Sudan's Transitional Sovereignty Council, and blamed regional and international forces for the infighting. Haroun described how the prison, where he and other former officials were held, came under fire and how ultimately the inmates were released.

Ahmed Haroun: "I am addressing you today, while our country is witnessing terrible events, the kind of which it has not witnessed throughout its modern history. I would like to stress that I am standing with you in the trench of the homeland, to prevent it from being hijacked by a regionally and internationally supported family project.

"With this position, I ignore all that has happened since the April 11, 2019 coup, when I made my historic decision that protecting the homeland comes before any political plan, party, or gain, and that the blood of the Sudanese men and women deserves to be protected, and must not become the price for any conflict over the government.

"I am saying this using the strongest words, despite the injustice displayed by the heads of the April 11, 2019 coup, who incarcerated me and held me hostage, in an attempt to please political, regional, and international forces, which, it has now been proven, are the number-one enemy of the Sudanese people, the current authority, and the armed forces. They are the cause of the war that is raging now. I completely distinguish between the heads of that authority and the national institutions of the state, and first and foremost, our armed forces, which are fighting with honor, courage, and bravery, like they always do.

"I call on our people to unite around the [armed] forces and to support them.

"We, the leaders of the National Salvation Revolution, remained incarcerated in Kobar Prison while fire was being exchanged for 9 days, sharing these extraordinary security circumstances with other inmates and with the prison guards. There were no longer any services. The power and water supply were completely shut off, and there was no food or medical treatment, even for inmates and prison guards who were wounded in the fire exchange. Many of them died as a result of this and others were wounded.

"When the situation in prison collapsed, all the inmates were sent out on Sunday, April 23, 2023. Of all the inmates and guards only about 10 remained in the prison – leaders, officers, and inmates. Upon the request of what was left of the prion force, we moved to another locations outside the prison."