Sudan's army detains ICC-wanted party chief Ahmed Haroun

As of 9:43 p.m. ET, Monday, Nov. 9, 2026

Sudan's army has detained Ahmed Haroun, chairman of the country's former ruling National Congress Party (NCP) and a man wanted by the International Criminal Court, two NCP officials told Reuters on Sunday, Nov. 8. Defense lawyers and a security official gave similar accounts to The Associated Press and AFP.

Reuters reported no immediate comment from the army, and the army had not publicly explained the detention as of Monday evening, Nov. 9. Why Haroun was detained, and on what legal basis, remains unclear.

What the sources say

The Reuters report rests on two officials from Haroun's own party, who confirmed his arrest. Reuters said it was unclear why the army moved against an ally, and that there was no immediate reaction from the ICC.

Two lawyers on Haroun's defense team told AP that military authorities detained him and that his whereabouts were unknown. They said no reasons were given, but linked the detention to a podcast interview he gave days earlier. The lawyers' account of where he was held changed: they first told AP he was detained in Kassala province in eastern Sudan, then said it happened in Omdurman, Khartoum's sister city.

A security official, who asked not to be named because they were not authorized to speak to the media, told AFP that Haroun was "taken into custody based on legal procedures." The official gave no further details.

The NCP said in a statement on Sunday that Haroun was detained without reasons or justification, called it an arbitrary use of power and demanded his immediate release, Sudan Tribune reported.

The podcast interview

The detention followed a long podcast interview that was Haroun's most visible public appearance in years. In it, according to Reuters, he said the NCP and the army may not be politically aligned but are united in the war against the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). AFP reported that he voiced support for army chief Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan. Reuters and AFP differ on whether the interview aired Friday or Saturday.

The ICC warrant

The ICC issued an arrest warrant for Haroun on April 27, 2007, when he was Sudan's minister of state for the interior, according to the court's case page. He faces 20 counts of crimes against humanity and 22 counts of war crimes, including murder, rape and attacks on civilians, allegedly committed in Darfur at least between 2003 and 2004. The court lists him as at large and says the case stays at the pre-trial stage until he is in its custody in The Hague. He has dismissed the charges as political, Reuters reported.

None of the reports said Sudan plans to hand him to the court.

Background

Haroun was first detained in April 2019, when a monthslong uprising led the military to oust longtime ruler Omar al-Bashir, AP reported. AFP reported that he and other former regime figures escaped prison in 2023, at the start of the war between the army and the RSF, and that he later rallied support for the army. Operatives from Sudan's Islamist movement, in which the NCP is rooted, say they helped the army's advances against the RSF, Reuters reported. The United States offered a reward of up to $5 million in 2024 in connection with his arrest, AFP reported.