THE Sudanese army will not extradite deposed president Omar al-Bashir but will put him on trial at home before the nation, the military has said.
It defended its ousting of the longtime ruler, saying it was in response to the demands of the people. “This was not a coup,” Colonel General Omar Zein Abedeen told reporters in the capital Khartoum, but a “tool of change”.
Al-Bashir, pictured, wanted by the International Criminal Court, faces charges of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide for his deadly campaign against insurgents in Darfur, where up to 300,000 people were killed and 2.7 million driven from their homes by militias he backed.
To hand over al-Bashir would be “an ugly mark on Sudan ... even rebels carrying weapons, we won’t extradite them”, said Col Gen Zein Abedeen, who has been tasked by the military to lead a political dialogue.
RESEARCHERS from a British-led scientific research charity have been using submersibles to dive deep and document the health of the Indian Ocean.
The Nekton team has been exploring the depths of the ocean for more than a month. The latest dive took place in the outer islands of Seychelles.
This body of water is poorly studied and few have ever ventured deeper than the maximum scuba depth of 100ft.
JUDGES at the International Criminal Court have rejected a request by the court’s prosecutor to open an investigation into war crimes and crimes against humanity in Afghanistan and alleged crimes by US forces linked to the conflict.
They said an investigation “would not serve the interests of justice” because an investigation and prosecution are unlikely to be successful as those involved, including the US and local Afghan warlords, are not expected to co-operate.
The decision says the November 2017 request from Fatou Bensouda to open a probe “establishes a reasonable basis to consider that crimes within the ICC jurisdiction have been committed in Afghanistan”.
FRANCE is ready to take in 20 of the migrants on a non-governmental organisation (NGO) rescue ship that is on its ninth day at sea, the interior minister said.
Christophe Castaner said that France, along with Germany and some other European partners, has agreed to welcome migrants out of “solidarity”, to allow them to disembark the ship in the nearest port, Valletta in Malta.
Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said his country is refusing to allow port access to the ship, saying that the NGO should have headed to Tunisia, the nearest safe port to the rescue spot.
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