Bashir’s Graft Trial Starts in Khartoum

FILE PHOTO: Bashir delivers a speech inside Parliament in Khartoum, Sudan April 1, 2019. REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Bashir delivers a speech inside Parliament in Khartoum, Sudan April 1, 2019. REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah/File Photo
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Bashir’s Graft Trial Starts in Khartoum

FILE PHOTO: Bashir delivers a speech inside Parliament in Khartoum, Sudan April 1, 2019. REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Bashir delivers a speech inside Parliament in Khartoum, Sudan April 1, 2019. REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah/File Photo

Sudan's ousted president Omar al-Bashir, who ruled the country for 30 years, arrived in court Monday in Khartoum for the start of his trial on corruption charges.

Bashir was forced from power on April 11, after months of protest against his regime and appeared before a prosecutor for the first time on June 16.

He faces charges of "possessing foreign currency, corruption and receiving gifts illegally".

An AFP reporter outside the Judicial and Legal Science Institute where the trial is taking place said Bashir arrived in a huge military convoy.

In April, Sudan's army ruler General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan said more than $113 million worth of cash in three currencies had been seized from Bashir's residence.

In May, the prosecutor general also said Bashir had been charged over killings during the anti-regime protests which eventually led to his ouster.

Protests against Bashir's rule erupted on December 19 after his government tripled the price of bread.

The most serious indictments facing Bashir, who ruled the country since seizing power in a 1989 coup, have been filed by the Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC).

They include war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide for his role in the war in Darfur, where a rebellion erupted in 2003.

The ICC has for years demanded that Bashir stand trial, and has renewed its call since his fall.



US Says Committed to 'Diplomatic Resolution' in Lebanon

FILE - Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin speaks in Greenwich, London, Sept. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, Pool, File)
FILE - Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin speaks in Greenwich, London, Sept. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, Pool, File)
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US Says Committed to 'Diplomatic Resolution' in Lebanon

FILE - Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin speaks in Greenwich, London, Sept. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, Pool, File)
FILE - Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin speaks in Greenwich, London, Sept. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, Pool, File)

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin stressed that the United States was dedicated to a diplomatic resolution in Lebanon and urged Israel to improve "dire" conditions in Gaza, in a call Saturday with his Israeli counterpart.

Austin "reiterated US commitment to a diplomatic resolution in Lebanon that allows Israeli and Lebanese civilians to return safely to their homes on both sides of the border" in his call with Israel Katz, according to a Pentagon spokesperson.

Austin also "urged the Government of Israel to continue to take steps to improve the dire humanitarian conditions in Gaza and emphasized the US commitment to securing the release of all hostages, including US citizens."

Lebanon said Saturday that an Israeli air strike in the heart of Beirut that brought down a residential building and jolted residents across the city killed at least 11 people.

Israel stepped up its campaign against the Hezbollah militant group in late September, targeting its strongholds in Lebanon.

Lebanon's health ministry says at least 3,645 people have been killed since October 2023, when Hezbollah began trading fire with Israel in solidarity with its Palestinian ally Hamas.

The United Nations and others have repeatedly decried humanitarian conditions, particularly in northern Gaza, where Israel said Friday it had killed two commanders involved in Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack.

In the call with Katz, Austin also discussed ongoing Israeli operations and reaffirmed Washington's "ironclad commitment to Israel's security," the Pentagon said.