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Former Iraqi Air Force Commander Escapes Police

Former Iraqi Defense Minister Khaled al-Obeidi (L) speaks with General Anwar Hama Ameen at an airbase in Baghdad (file photo: Reuters)
Former Iraqi Defense Minister Khaled al-Obeidi (L) speaks with General Anwar Hama Ameen at an airbase in Baghdad (file photo: Reuters)
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Former Iraqi Air Force Commander Escapes Police

Former Iraqi Defense Minister Khaled al-Obeidi (L) speaks with General Anwar Hama Ameen at an airbase in Baghdad (file photo: Reuters)
Former Iraqi Defense Minister Khaled al-Obeidi (L) speaks with General Anwar Hama Ameen at an airbase in Baghdad (file photo: Reuters)

Former Iraqi Air Force Commander, Lieutenant-General Anwar Hama Amin, escaped from police forces after he was convicted of corruption, according to conflicting Iraqi media reports.

Amin was sentenced to two years in prison and managed to escape with the help of his guards.

Amin was born in Kirkuk and is of Kurdish descent. He served as an Air Force commander since 2008 and participated in the war against ISIS before he retired in 2019.

Mystery seems to prevail in the case of Amin's escape and accusation, with some security sources claiming he was arrested after his escape attempt. However, sources in the Karkh Criminal Court, west of Baghdad, confirm that the security forces have failed to apprehend him so far.

Iraqi security authorities did not comment on the incident or issue an official statement.

Security sources reported that the former commander escaped during his transfer from court to prison. The security forces cordoned off the area to search for him.

After the ruling was issued, a unit was called to transfer the detainee to the prison. The detainee asked to bring his clothes and other stuff from his vehicle that his nephew, a colonel, was driving.

The detainee got in the vehicle accompanied by a lieutenant. The colonel drew his pistol, pointed it at the lieutenant's head, and threatened to kill him if he did not get out of the car.

The colonel and the arrested man fled towards the al-Adl neighborhood in Baghdad. The street was immediately blocked, and the vehicle was stopped before the detainee got off and ran to an unknown destination while the colonel was arrested.

An informed lawyer believes that the whole case is ambiguous, including the escape attempt.

He told Asharq Al-Awsat that he finds the court's ruling mysterious because the judiciary did not find evidence to convict him except with something related to a sports club.

The lawyer said he is not sure whether the commander is wanted on other pending cases but believes Amin may have attended the court hoping that the charges would be dropped, and then he was surprised by the conviction.

The Federal Integrity Commission announced earlier that the ruling against the commander relates to violations in a contract for investing a plot of land allocated to the Air Force Sports Club.

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US Determines Sudan's RSF Committed Genocide, Imposes Sanctions on Leader

Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces commander, General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, attends a meeting of representatives of the tripartite mechanism in the Sudanese capital Khartoum on June 8, 2022. (AFP)
Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces commander, General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, attends a meeting of representatives of the tripartite mechanism in the Sudanese capital Khartoum on June 8, 2022. (AFP)
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US Determines Sudan's RSF Committed Genocide, Imposes Sanctions on Leader

Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces commander, General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, attends a meeting of representatives of the tripartite mechanism in the Sudanese capital Khartoum on June 8, 2022. (AFP)
Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces commander, General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, attends a meeting of representatives of the tripartite mechanism in the Sudanese capital Khartoum on June 8, 2022. (AFP)

The United States determined on Tuesday that members of Sudan's Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and allied militias committed genocide in Sudan and it imposed sanctions on the group's leader over a conflict that has killed tens of thousands of people and driven millions from their homes.

The moves deal a blow to the RSF's attempts to burnish its image and assert legitimacy - including by installing a civilian government- as the paramilitary group seeks to expand its territory beyond the roughly half of the country it currently controls.

The RSF rejected the measures.

"America previously punished the great African freedom fighter Nelson Mandela, which was wrong. Today, it is rewarding those who started the war by punishing (RSF leader) General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, which is also wrong," said an RSF spokesman when reached for comment.

The war in Sudan has produced waves of ethnically driven violence blamed largely on the RSF. It has also carried out mass looting campaigns across swathes of the country, arbitrarily killing and sexually assaulting civilians in the process.

The RSF denies harming civilians and attributes the activity to rogue actors it says it is trying to control.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement the RSF and aligned militias had continued to direct attacks against civilians, adding they had systematically murdered men and boys on an ethnic basis and had deliberately targeted women and girls from certain ethnic groups for rape and other forms of sexual violence.

The militias have also targeted fleeing civilians and murdered innocent people escaping conflict, Blinken said.

"The United States is committed to holding accountable those responsible for these atrocities," Blinken said.

Washington announced sanctions on the leader of the RSF, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, barring him and his family from travelling to the US and freezing any US assets he might hold. Financial institutions and others that engage in certain activity with him also risk being hit with sanctions themselves.

It had previously sanctioned other leaders, as well as army officials, but had not sanctioned Dagalo, known as Hemedti, as attempts to bring the two sides to talks continued.

Such attempts have stalled in recent months.

"As the overall commander of the RSF, Hemedti bears command responsibility for the abhorrent and illegal actions of his forces," the Treasury said.

Sudan's army and RSF have been fighting for almost two years, creating a humanitarian crisis in which UN agencies struggle to deliver relief. More than half of Sudan's population faces hunger, and famine has been declared in several areas.

The war erupted in April 2023 amid a power struggle between the army and RSF ahead of a planned transition to civilian rule.

Blinken said in the statement that "both belligerents bear responsibility for the violence and suffering in Sudan and lack the legitimacy to govern a future peaceful Sudan."

The US has sanctioned army leaders as well as individuals and entities linked to financing its weapons procurement. Last year, Blinken accused the RSF and the army, which has carried out numerous indiscriminate air strikes, of war crimes.