Ahmed Haroun detained by Sudan military despite alliance in ongoing civil war

Sudan's military has taken into custody Ahmed Haroun, the leader of the country's former ruling National Congress Party who has long been sought by the International Criminal Court, according to party representatives.

Haroun, an influential Islamist politician who served under deposed president Omar al-Bashir, had spent years in hiding. He faces charges at the International Criminal Court related to genocide and war crimes allegedly carried out in the Darfur area during the early 2000s. He has repeatedly rejected those accusations, describing them as politically motivated.

The detention was verified by two officials from the National Congress Party. However, the motives behind the military's action remain uncertain, especially given the shared opposition between the army and Haroun's faction against a common adversary. The Sudanese military did not issue an immediate statement regarding the detention, and the international court in The Hague offered no initial response.

The arrest comes shortly after Haroun appeared on a televised podcast, where he remarked that while the National Congress Party and the armed forces might differ in their political visions, they stood together in the country's ongoing conflict against the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.

Sudan's armed forces have been engaged in an intense civil war against the Rapid Support Forces for over three years. Islamist cadres affiliated with Haroun's movement have maintained that their fighters supported government military gains against the paramilitary faction during the prolonged hostilities.

The protracted war has devastated the country, triggering widespread famine, mass forced displacement, and large-scale ethnic violence. International powers have increasingly been drawn into the hostilities, which the United Nations has described as the most severe humanitarian crisis across the globe.

The National Congress Party forms the core of Sudan's broader Islamist network, an influential political movement that held dominant power during the 1990s under the early rule of Bashir. Haroun previously held several high-level administrative and governmental roles during that period, including governing South Kordofan province.