Khartoum, ICC Agree to Try Bashir

Bashir during a court appearance in Khartoum. (Reuters)
Bashir during a court appearance in Khartoum. (Reuters)
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Khartoum, ICC Agree to Try Bashir

Bashir during a court appearance in Khartoum. (Reuters)
Bashir during a court appearance in Khartoum. (Reuters)

Head of Sudan’s Sovereign Council Abdel-Fattah al-Burhan has revealed an agreement between Khartoum and the International Criminal Court (ICC) to try ousted Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir.

In an interview with Al-Arabiya Al-Hadath television on Thursday night, Burhan said judicial authorities in Sudan agreed with the ICC to try Bashir and other wanted figures in Sudan or any other place agreed upon.

“The ICC did not request extraditing Bashir to The Hague but rather trying him to achieve justice,” he stressed.

Burhan also renewed his country's stance on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam dispute and the importance of reaching a binding legal agreement on its operation and filling.

He also called on Addis Ababa to withdraw from al-Fashaqa region, saying Sudan was not seeking war against Ethiopia.

However, he stressed his country’s right to defend its land, adding it was ready to confront any escalation despite its willingness to coordinate a solution to the dispute.

Moreover, Burhan said the transitional government has started to reap the benefits of Sudan's removal from the US list of state sponsors of terrorism.

"Khartoum has taken the first step to restore the country’s position in the regional and international community despite the challenges facing the transitional phase."

He further denied any internal differences between civilians and the military in the government and between him and Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok.

Burhan pointed to the development of relations with the United States, albeit at “slow pace,” and the intelligence bilateral cooperation.

Asked about the normalization of relations with Israel and the exchanged visits between officials, Burhan replied that relations have been recently limited to intelligence work aimed at addressing terrorism in Sudan and abroad.

He denied any visit by a Sudanese official to Tel Aviv but for the first time revealed that an Israeli delegation had visited Khartoum, headed by Minister of Intelligence, as well as other technical delegations, without naming them.



Switzerland Lifts Economic Sanctions on Syria

A drone view shows the Syrian central bank, after the ousting of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, December 16, 2024. (Reuters)
A drone view shows the Syrian central bank, after the ousting of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, December 16, 2024. (Reuters)
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Switzerland Lifts Economic Sanctions on Syria

A drone view shows the Syrian central bank, after the ousting of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, December 16, 2024. (Reuters)
A drone view shows the Syrian central bank, after the ousting of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, December 16, 2024. (Reuters)

Switzerland said on Friday it will lift a raft of economic sanctions imposed on Syria, including the Middle Eastern country's central bank.

After the toppling of former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad in December 2024, targeted sanctions against individuals and entities linked to the former government will still remain in place, Switzerland's governing Federal Council said.

"The aim of this decision is to promote the country's economic recovery and an inclusive and peaceful political transition," the council said in a statement.

After an initial easing of sanctions in March, Switzerland is now lifting restrictions on the provision of certain financial services, trade in precious metals and the export of luxury goods, the government said.

Some 24 entities including the central bank of Syria have also been removed from the sanctions list, it added.

The announcement follows the EU's decision to lift its economic sanctions on Syria at the end of May after a similar move by the US Treasury Department in the same month.