
Sudan’s prosecutors want Bashir interrogated on money laundering charges
Sudan’s public prosecutor on Thursday ordered ousted President Omar al-Bashir to be interrogated on charges of money laundering and financing terrorism.
The prosecutor’s statement said other unidentified senior figures would also be investigated for financial crimes.
Bashir was removed by the military on April 11 after months of demonstrations against his 30-year rule. He is also wanted by the International Criminal Court in the Hague for war crimes over the conflict in Sudan’s Darfur region.
The call for Bashir to be investigated came as hundreds of thousands of protesters joined a sit-in to demand the army give way to civilian rule.
Protesters and activists have been negotiating with the TMC to form a joint civilian-military body to oversee the country until elections. But the parties are deadlocked over who would control the new council and what the features of a transitional government would be.
The Declaration of Freedom and Change Forces (DFCF) alliance said on Thursday it had sent the Transitional Military Council (TMC) set up after Bashir’s ouster a draft constitutional document containing its vision for the transitional period.
The constitutional draft, seen by Reuters, outlines the duties of a sovereign transitional council which the opposition groups hope will replace the TMC but does not specify who would sit on it. It also outlines the responsibilities of the cabinet and a 120-member legislature.
Opposition groups say the ruling council must be civilian-led and have promised to maintain a sit-in outside the Defence Ministry until their demands are met, but the TMC has shown no sign of willingness to relinquish ultimate authority.