Sudan opens Darfur crimes probe against Bashir regime figures

Sudan said on Sunday it had opened an investigation into crimes committed in the Darfur region by members of the regime of ousted president Omar al-Bashir. Prosecutor general Tagelsir al-Heber said "we started an investigation about the crimes that have been committed in Darfur from 2003", speaking on his arrival in Khartoum from a visit to the United Arab Emirates.

The investigation -- the first launched since Bashir was ousted by the army in April amid mass protests after 30 years in power -- focuses on "cases against former regime leaders", Heber said without giving names.

Bashir is wanted by the International Criminal Court

Bashir himself, who is behind bars for corruption and awaiting trial on other charges, is wanted by the International Criminal Court in The Hague for his role in the bloody conflict. The ICC issued warrants for Bashir's arrest in 2009 and 2010 on charges of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity in the conflict that left around 300,000 people dead and 2.5 million displaced, according to the United Nations.

The Darfur fighting broke out in 2003 when ethnic minority rebels took up arms against Bashir's Arab-dominated government, which they accused of marginalising the region. Human rights groups say Khartoum targeted suspected pro-rebel ethnic groups with a scorched earth policy, raping, killing, looting and burning villages. Despite numerous calls for his extradition, the ex-dictator has not been sent to The Hague, the seat of the ICC.

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Brought to power by a 1989 coup, Bashir was deposed on April 11 by the army, after months of a mass protest movement against his regime that left dozens dead. Following a deal reached in August between the military and protesters, Sudan is now led by a transitional government tasked with paving the way for civilian rule. The investigation was announced on Sunday as the new government has vowed to establish peace in the country's conflict-hit regions, including Darfur.

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On December 14, Bashir was sentenced by a court in Khartoum to two years' detention in a correctional centre for corruption in the first of several cases against him. Bashir is also being investigated for his role in the 1989 coup that brought him to power. On Sunday, Heber also said that proceedings had been launched against Salah Gosh, former intelligence chief under Bashir.

"There are four cases against Salah Gosh and we started a procedure to bring him (back to Sudan) by Interpol." Gosh, head of the feared National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS), resigned in April two days after the ouster of Bashir and is now outside of Sudan.

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