Show caption: Sudan's army-aligned authorities have arrested Ahmed Haroun,…
Mr Haroun is charged with more than 40 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity
The National
November 08, 2026
The Sudanese Armed Forces have detained a senior Islamist official from the era of dictator Omar Al Bashir. Ahmed Haroun, chairman of Sudan's former ruling National Congress Party, has been in hiding for years.
He is wanted by the International Criminal Court over alleged war crimes and genocide in the Darfur region in the early 2000s. He has dismissed these charges as political.
In a televised interview on Saturday, Mr Haroun said the NCP and army may not be politically aligned but were united in Sudan's civil war against the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.
Two NCP officials confirmed Mr Haroun's arrest, but it was unclear why the army moved against an ally. There was no immediate comment from the SAF or reaction from the ICC.
Operatives from the Islamist movement say they helped the army's advances against the RSF during more than three years of war that has caused waves of ethnic killings, famine and mass displacement. The conflict has drawn in foreign powers and created what the UN calls the world's biggest humanitarian crisis.
The NCP is rooted in Sudan's Islamist movement, which was powerful during the Al Bashir era. Mr Haroun was among dozens of Sudanese officials arrested in 2019 after an uprising and military coup ended Al Bashir's rule. But he escaped from Kobar Prison during the chaos of the civil war and voiced support for the SAF.
Haroun is charged by the ICC with more than 40 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity – including murder, rape, torture, attacks on civilians and destruction of property – allegedly committed in Darfur in the early 2000s, while he served as interior minister and later humanitarian minister.
In January 2024, the US offered a $5 million reward for information leading to his capture. Mr Haroun is portrayed by the US State Department as having recruited, financed and armed the Janjaweed militia, which participated in atrocities including murder, rape, torture, forced deportations and other inhumane treatment in Darfur in the 2000s
Updated:
November 08, 2026, 3:35 PM
Source: The National
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