Sudan – Zoom News

The trial of former Sudan leader Omar Hassan al-Bashir has started in Khartoum. He must answer for the military coup he committed as a senior officer in 1989. The coup against democratically elected Prime Minister Sadeq al-Mahdi narrowly prevented the Prime Minister from making peace with the rebellious South and ending a civil war in what eventually became independent South Sudan in 2011. Al-Bashir remained in power until April last year, plunging the vast country into decades of bloodshed and economic disaster. He isolated the country politically and economically, for example, by long-term housing of terrorists such as Osama bin Laden (1957-2011). He is also wanted by the International Criminal Court in The Hague for the bloody persecution of populations in northwestern Darfu...

Sudan Negotiators Hopeful of Agreement on New Transitional Council. A negotiator on behalf of the Sudanese opposition has returned optimistically from discussions with the transitional military council, which is now ruling. He thinks he can make a deal about the formation of a new government that will guide the country through the transition period. "We have taken positive steps today, and we expect to reach an agreement that is satisfactory for all parties," said Ayman Nimir, one of the leaders of the umbrella citizen declaration of freedom and change. "We assume that the military council will give us a definitive answer in the short term." The army command recently deposed the autocratic president Omar al-Bashir, who had been in power in Sudan for 30 years.