Bashir-Era Sudanese Ruling Party Head Ghandour Re-Arrested

Sudan's then Foreign Minister Ibrahim Ghandour is seen during a meeting with Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry (not pictured) in Cairo, Egypt June 3, 2017. (Reuters)
Sudan's then Foreign Minister Ibrahim Ghandour is seen during a meeting with Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry (not pictured) in Cairo, Egypt June 3, 2017. (Reuters)
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Bashir-Era Sudanese Ruling Party Head Ghandour Re-Arrested

Sudan's then Foreign Minister Ibrahim Ghandour is seen during a meeting with Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry (not pictured) in Cairo, Egypt June 3, 2017. (Reuters)
Sudan's then Foreign Minister Ibrahim Ghandour is seen during a meeting with Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry (not pictured) in Cairo, Egypt June 3, 2017. (Reuters)

Ibrahim Ghandour, head of Sudan's disbanded former ruling National Congress Party and a former foreign minister under deposed President Omar al-Bashir, was re-arrested on Monday less than a day after he had been released from jail, according to a source from his family.

The release of Ghandour and several other Bashir allies in recent days, following a military coup last week, had come under criticism from opponents of military rule.

Ghandour had previously been detained under orders of a taskforce intended to dismantle and prevent the return of Bashir's three-decade rule, which ended in 2019.

He had been released on Sunday night, along with two former intelligence officials under Bashir. Two other Bashir allies, including businessman Abdelbasit Hamza, had also been released on Saturday, judiciary sources said, according to Reuters.

Sudan's public prosecutor was also dismissed Sunday night.



Far-Right Israeli Minister Ben-Gvir Visits Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque Compound

 Palestinians attend Eid al-Fitr holiday celebrations by the Dome of the Rock shrine in the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem's Old City, Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP)
Palestinians attend Eid al-Fitr holiday celebrations by the Dome of the Rock shrine in the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem's Old City, Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP)
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Far-Right Israeli Minister Ben-Gvir Visits Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque Compound

 Palestinians attend Eid al-Fitr holiday celebrations by the Dome of the Rock shrine in the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem's Old City, Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP)
Palestinians attend Eid al-Fitr holiday celebrations by the Dome of the Rock shrine in the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem's Old City, Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP)

Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir visited the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem’s Old City on Wednesday, his spokesperson said, prompting strong condemnation from Jordan and Palestinian group Hamas.

The firebrand politician was visiting the site, which is sacred to Jews and Muslims, in occupied east Jerusalem after returning to the Israeli government last month following the resumption of the war against Hamas in Gaza.

Ben-Gvir had quit the cabinet in January in protest at the ceasefire agreement in the Palestinian territory.

Since the formation of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government at the end of 2022, Ben-Gvir has made several trips to the Al-Aqsa compound, each time triggering international outcry.

In a statement, the Jordanian Foreign Ministry condemned Wednesday’s visit as a “storming” and “an unacceptable provocation.”

Hamas called it a “provocative and dangerous escalation,” saying the visit was “part of the ongoing genocide against our Palestinian people.”

“We call on our Palestinian people and our youth in the West Bank to escalate their confrontation... in defense of our land and our sanctities, foremost among them the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque,” it said in a statement.

The site is Islam’s third-holiest and a symbol of Palestinian national identity.

Known to Jews as the Temple Mount, it is also Judaism’s holiest place, revered as the site of the second temple destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD.

Under the status quo maintained by Israel, which has occupied east Jerusalem and its Old City since 1967, Jews and other non-Muslims are allowed to visit the compound during specified hours, but they are not permitted to pray there or display religious symbols.

Ben-Gvir’s spokesperson told AFP the minister “went there because the site was opened (for non-Muslims) after 13 days,” during which access was reserved for Muslims for the festival of Eid al-Fitr and the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

In recent years, growing numbers of Jewish ultranationalists have defied the rules, including Ben-Gvir, who publicly prayed there in 2023 and 2024.

The Israeli government has said repeatedly that it intends to uphold the status quo at the compound but Palestinian fears about its future have made it a flashpoint for violence.