Reuters cites two National Congress Party officials; AP cites two defence lawyers; Sudan Tribune reports a party statement and a political figure’s post. The accounts report a detention but differ over its exact location, and Sudan’s army had not publicly commented in the material reviewed. The ICC did not immediately comment to Reuters. Haroun denies the ICC allegations; a warrant and charges are not a conviction. The ICC case page appeared in indexed results but returned 403 when opened directly, so the court record could not be inspected in full. No source reviewed confirms transfer to ICC custody.
Reports followed a public podcast appearance
Sudan’s army detained Ahmed Haroun, the former chairman of the National Congress Party (NCP), on Sunday, party officials and defence lawyers told Reuters and The Associated Press. The reports put a senior figure from Omar al-Bashir’s government back in custody, but they do not say that he has been transferred to the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Reuters said two NCP officials confirmed the arrest. AP cited two lawyers on Haroun’s defence team, who said they had not been told why he was detained and did not know his whereabouts. Sudan Tribune reported that the former ruling party condemned the detention as arbitrary. Sudan’s army had not publicly explained the move in the reporting reviewed.
The accounts also differed on the precise location. AP’s lawyers placed the detention in Kassala state, while Sudan Tribune described conflicting reports before citing a political figure who said security forces stopped Haroun near Kassala as he travelled toward Atbara. The location has not been independently settled.
The timing is politically sensitive
Haroun appeared in a long podcast interview shortly before the reported detention. Reuters said he described the NCP and army as not necessarily aligned politically but united against the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the paramilitary force fighting Sudan’s army.
The lawyers told AP they believed the detention followed those remarks. That is their assessment, not a reason given by Sudanese authorities. Reuters reported that Haroun had dismissed the ICC charges as political; AP said he has denied them.
A Sudanese detention is not an ICC transfer
The ICC issued an arrest warrant for Haroun in 2007 over alleged crimes in Darfur in 2003 and 2004. The court lists 20 counts of crimes against humanity and 22 war-crime counts, including murder, rape, persecution, forced transfer and torture. These remain allegations; the case has not produced a conviction.
A domestic arrest does not by itself put a suspect in the ICC’s custody. The court’s public case record says proceedings remain at the pre-trial stage until Haroun is arrested and transferred to The Hague. No transfer has been announced, and the ICC did not immediately comment to Reuters.
For now, the public evidence supports a reported detention inside Sudan. It does not establish the exact place Haroun is being held, the army’s reason for taking him into custody or a new step in his ICC proceedings.
Sources
4 references
- ReutersSudan detains ex-ruling party head Haroun wanted by ICCOriginal reporting; two former ruling-party officials confirmed the army detained Haroun. Reuters reports no immediate comment from the army or ICC. · 2026-11-08
- The Associated PressSudan’s military again detains International Criminal Court fugitive Haroun, lawyers sayOriginal reporting; two defence lawyers said Haroun was detained and his whereabouts were unknown. The lawyers linked the timing to his recent podcast remarks. · 2026-11-08
- International Criminal CourtAhmad Harun case profileOfficial case record indexed by the ICC: arrest warrant and 42 alleged counts concerning Darfur in 2003–2004. The full page returned 403 during this review. · 2007-04-27
- Sudan TribuneSudanese army arrests former ruling party chief Ahmed Haroun after podcast appearanceRegional reporting on the National Congress Party statement and conflicting accounts of the detention location. · 2026-11-08
