The release of al-Bashir's leaders from prison. Mutual accusations between the army and the Rapid Support Forces

Khartoum - The release of a group of leaders of the former ruling National Congress Party in Sudan and symbols of the regime of former President Omar al-Bashir from prison sparked widespread controversy in Khartoum, where the Rapid Support Forces and the Alliance of Freedom and Change Forces - the Central Council considered it part of a plan to return Islamists to power, while others see it as normal because they came out among thousands of others who escaped from prisons.

Among the most prominent leaders who left her detention site three days after her transfer from Kober prison were Ali Osman Taha, former vice president, his assistant Nafie Ali Nafie, former head of the National Congress Party Ahmed Haroun, former Minister of Energy and Oil Awad al-Jaz, former director of the Radio and Television Corporation Muhammad Hatem Suleiman, and other retired military personnel.

Al-Bashir regime leader Ahmed Haroun: We stand with the Sudanese army against a family project to hijack the homeland with regional and international support#الأخبار pic.twitter.com/o0km7MI0dX

— Al Jazeera (@AJArabic) April 26, 2023

A statement that provokes confusion

On Sunday, authorities accused the RSF of storming Kober Public Prison in Khartoum North and releasing thousands of inmates, including those on death row. There were rumors that the leaders of the Bashir regime had escaped, but the prison administration explained that these leaders were transferred to a safe place.

On Tuesday evening, former head of the National Congress Party (NCP), Ahmed Haroun, surprised the Sudanese with an audio statement saying that he had left prison with other former officials and that they would protect themselves.

Haroun pointed out that they stayed in the prison "under the exchange of battle fire for 9 days", and they were completely cut off from the supply of water, electricity and food and all the other inmates of the prison left, and remained alone until they were transferred to another location guarded by three policemen.

The former leader, who is wanted by the ICC, added that he was "ready, along with other former officials, to appear before the judiciary when he fulfills his role."

The army later said that al-Bashir and several other military figures of his regime were being held at Alia Military Hospital, where they had been transferred from Kober prison before the military confrontations in Khartoum.

In addition to al-Bashir, his former deputy Bakri Hassan Saleh, former defense minister Abdel Rahim Mohamed Hussein, Major General Ahmed al-Tayeb al-Khanjar, and former youth and sports minister Youssef Abdel Fattah are under medical care under the guard of the judicial police.

Fear of the unknown

In turn, a leader in the National Congress Party revealed that the leaders of the party who left their detention site did not escape with thousands who escaped from Kober prison last Sunday, but took the decision to leave after obtaining accurate information that the Rapid Support Forces approved as part of their plan to seize power, the liquidation of 32 military and political figures, including the leaders of his party.

The leader – who spoke with Al Jazeera Net, asked not to be identified – explains that the leaders who came out believed that they would be secured with sufficient military force, but did not find with them only 3 policemen with light weapons.

He pointed out that the police realized that they could not protect these leaders and did not want to take responsibility for what could happen to them, so they did not mind leaving their detention site, and received from them pledges and a commitment to appear before the courts that hear their cases after the current crisis is over.

He explained that there were two attempts to storm Kober prison by an armed group belonging to the Rapid Support, which seems to have been tasked with liquidating political prisoners, after the leader of the Rapid Support Mohamed Hamdan Daglo "Hemedti" repeated in conversations after the outbreak of the war that the Islamists pushed the army to fight him in order to return them to power.

He pointed out that the leaders who came out of detention did not go to their homes so as not to be targeted, as they were transferred to homes that are easy to secure to defend themselves, stressing that they did not leave Sudan and are ready to appear before the judiciary after the start of state institutions whose activities are suspended due to the war.

Political controversy

After Haroun released an audio recording explaining the circumstances of his departure from prison and calling on his party's rank and file to rally around the armed forces, the army responded with a statement asserting that it had nothing to do with statements issued by symbols of the Bashir regime who escaped from Kober prison, including Ahmed Haroun's statement.

The army statement blamed the Rapid Support Forces for storming prisons and releasing inmates indiscriminately in an attempt to create chaos in the country.

On the other hand, the Rapid Support Forces accused the army's military intelligence of being behind the release of former regime figures in coordination with Islamists, as part of a plot to return them to power, and Hemedti's adviser for political affairs, Youssef Ezzat, threatened to search for the leaders of the former regime and return them to prison.

As for the Forces of Freedom and Change - Central Council, Ahmed Haroun's statement is evidence that the former regime and its party, through their elements within the armed forces and other regular forces, are behind the ongoing war.

The Forces of Freedom and Change added that the former regime aims through war to restore what it described as the tyrannical junta to power.

Political exploitation

In the context, analyst Ibrahim Abdullah believes that the Forces of Freedom and Change and the Rapid Support Forces are trying to exploit the exit of the leaders of the Bashir regime from detention to market that the Islamists still represent the "deep state" and control the joints of the military and security state, in order to raise the concerns of regional and international parties.

In his interview with Al Jazeera Net, Abdullah believes that the army will not benefit from the departure of these leaders to their detention site, and it is no secret that Islamists and a large segment of the Sudanese people support the army as a safety valve for the country's unity and stability.

He pointed out that the Islamists hold Burhan responsible for placing them in detention for more than four years, in response to his former partners in the forces of freedom and change, and to satisfy Arab and Western forces that do not want them to return to the scene.

For his part, the spokesman for the Sudanese Baath Party, Mohammed Wada, criticized Haroun's statement, saying that he lacked civility and wisdom, and wanted him to record a heroic position.

Wadaa added that every Sudanese has the right to support the army against Hemedti, but not through political propaganda that could harm the conduct of the army's battle, raise doubts and threaten the unity of the home front, considering that "Haroun's speech threatens the unity of the people and their consensus to support their army, and the best service that Haroun and those with him can provide is silence."