The New York Times: Bashir admits receiving Saudi money dramatic start to trial

The first hearing of ousted President Omar al-Bashir is a dramatic start to a trial that has signaled significant changes in Sudan since his ouster.

It focused on Bashir's acknowledgment of receiving millions of dollars from Saudi Arabia. She said Saudi Arabia and its ally the United Arab Emirates supported Bashir, who sent thousands of Sudanese soldiers to support their war in Yemen, but their positions soon changed after his overthrow, with the UAE and Saudi Arabia providing $ 3 billion in aid to the military junta that ousted him.

She pointed out that many Sudanese hope to remove the effects of the rule of Bashir, during which Sudan witnessed many internal revolutions, became isolated internationally and was subject to US sanctions.

The newspaper pointed out that the appearance of Bashir, or as he called the "African dictator who has been outside the scope of accountability for decades" in court and in the dock was a scene that would not have occurred to the Sudanese during the thirty years of his rule.

The New York Times also drew attention to Bashir's response to the court's question about his place of residence, where he smiled as he listed Kober prison as his place of residence, a prison in Khartoum where Bashir had long held his opponents.

Bashir, whose first court session began in Khartoum yesterday, is on trial for corruption. In April, the head of the junta, Abdul Fattah al-Burhan, announced that $ 113 million worth of banknotes had been found in various currencies at the Bashir residence in Khartoum.

Bashir has admitted receiving 90 million dollars in cash from Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and King Abdullah, an investigator said during his trial in Khartoum on Monday.

Ahmed Ali police said at the start of the trial of al-Bashir on corruption charges, that the isolated president told him that the money "handed over to him a number of delegates from Mohammed bin Salman."