Sudan’s prime minister said on Saturday the country was ready to cooperate with the International Criminal Court (ICC) so those accused of war crimes in Darfur appear before the tribunal, a list that includes ousted President Omar al-Bashir.
“I reiterate that the government is fully prepared to cooperate with the ICC to facilitate access to those accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity,” PM Abdalla Hamdok said in a televised address on the anniversary of his ascent to office.
During his TV address, Hamdok also noted that Sudan had come a long way towards being removed from the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism.
The designation makes Sudan technically ineligible for debt relief and financing from the International Monetary Fund and World Bank. The U.S. Congress would need to approve Sudan’s removal from the list.
Bashir, who has been in jail in Khartoum since he was toppled after mass protests last year, is wanted by the ICC for alleged war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity in Darfur in a conflict that killed an estimated 300,000 people.
The government reached a deal with rebel groups in February that all five Sudanese ICC suspects should appear before the court but Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok had not previously publicly affirmed Sudan’s position.
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