Ousted Sudan president to be sent for trial soon, says prosecutor

Sudan's chief prosecutor said on Saturday that ousted President Omar Al Bashir would be sent for trial soon on corruption charges related to his three decades in power.

Alwaleed Sayed Ahmed Mahmoud told a news conference the trial referral would be made after a one-week period for objections expires, adding that criminal cases have been opened against 41 other former officials accused of graft.

The prosecutor's office said on Thursday that Bashir, who was ousted by the military in April following months of protests against his 30-year autocratic rule, had been charged with corruption after an investigation was completed.

The charges are related to laws on "suspected illicit wealth and emergency orders," the office said, without giving more details.

Bashir had already been charged in May with incitement and involvement in the killing of protesters. Prosecutors also ordered his interrogation on suspicion of money laundering and terrorism financing.

Mahmoud also said he had attended a meeting with military heads to discuss judicial supervision of a plan to clear what he called "criminals" from an area adjacent to a protest camp in the centre of the capital.

But the idea of dispersing the protesters was not discussed, he added.

The country's military rulers said on Thursday they had thwarted several coup attempts and that some officers had been arrested over the deadly dispersal of protesters at a sit-in in Khartoum earlier this month.

Reuters