Sudan's army detains Ahmed Haroun, the former ruling party chairman wanted by the ICC, party officials say
Sudan's army has detained Ahmed Haroun, the chairman of the former ruling National Congress Party (NCP) and one of the men most wanted by the International Criminal Court, two officials of his party told Reuters on Sunday. Haroun, 62, has been in hiding for years; the ICC has wanted him since 2007 on 20 counts of crimes against humanity and 22 counts of war crimes over Darfur in 2003–2004, charges he has dismissed as political. His party said he was detained around midday without being given a reason and demanded his immediate release, condemning the detention as arbitrary. The army gave no immediate comment and the ICC did not react. Only a day earlier, Haroun had said in a televised podcast interview that his party and the army, whatever their political differences, were united in the war against the Rapid Support Forces.
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Key points
- Reuters reports the army has detained Ahmed Haroun, chairman of the former ruling NCP — from two officials of his own party; the army has not commented.
- Haroun has been wanted by the ICC since 2007 on 42 counts over Darfur; he dismisses the charges as political.
- His party says he was held without a reason and demands his release; it calls the detention arbitrary.
- A day earlier he had publicly backed the army's war against the RSF — why an ally was detained is not explained in the reporting.
What happened
Haroun is one of the last uncaptured figures of the Bashir era: a former interior minister who ran the Darfur security desk at the height of the 2003–2004 campaign, he has been a fugitive from the ICC for nearly two decades and a hidden power inside the Islamist movement whose fighters now back the army.
Sudan's civil war, in its fourth year, has made allies of the army and the old regime's networks against the RSF. The reported detention of the NCP's chairman by the army he publicly supports opens a question the reporting cannot yet answer: accountability, politics, or something else.
Claim by claim
Why this label: The detention is reported by Reuters from two officials of Haroun's own party, with the party's public statement carried by Sudan Now; no army statement or independent confirmation had appeared, so it is labelled Not yet verified and the headline carries the attribution.
On the ladder: the evidence so far sits low — early, single or social sources. We publish the claim as a claim, never as fact.
Why this label: The counts and charges are from the ICC's own warrant announcement of 2 May 2007; the political-dismissal line is Haroun's stated position, reported by Reuters.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Why this label: The podcast remarks and the Islamist operatives' role are Reuters' reporting; the unclear-reason point is the position of the party officials Reuters spoke to, carried as their position.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Show all claims (1 more)
Why this label: The career and prison-escape sequence is Reuters' reporting, with the 2023 prison break also reported by CNN at the time; the reward is the US offer of January 2024; the Kushayb conviction is the ICC's October 2025 verdict.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
What we know / what we don't know yet
What we know
- That Haroun's party says he was detained on Sunday and demands his release — Reuters, from two party officials, and the party's own statement.
- The ICC warrant's charges and counts, from the court's own 2007 announcement.
What we don't know yet
- Whether the army confirms the detention, where Haroun is held, and on what grounds — the army had not commented.
- Whether Sudan will hand Haroun to the ICC, charge him at home, or release him — no official has said.
- The ICC's reaction — the court had not responded in the reports read.
Why it matters
If Sudan's army is holding one of the ICC's most wanted men, the next step matters far beyond party politics: a transfer to The Hague would be the Darfur case's biggest move in years, while a quiet release would say the opposite about accountability in Sudan's war. Neither has happened yet — the detention itself is still the party's word.
Background
Show the background timeline (6)
The ICC issues its warrant for Haroun: 20 counts of crimes against humanity and 22 counts of war crimes over Darfur.
Bashir is overthrown; Haroun is arrested by the new authorities.
Haroun escapes from Kobar Prison in Khartoum as the army–RSF war reaches the capital, and goes into hiding.
The United States offers a 5 million dollar reward for information leading to his capture.
The ICC convicts Ali Kushayb, named in the same 2007 warrants — the first verdict in the Darfur situation.
His party says the army has detained him again.
Update history
No silent edits. Every change is written here, with its time.
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Published in Checking state — checking continues, and claims are labelled as reporting develops. Basis: Reuters' report from party officials and the ICC's warrant record.