Karti to the Police Director: Ahmed Haroun won’t return to prison except over the Islamic Movement’s dead body
On Thursday, the electronic newspaper, Edraak, quoted military sources from Port Sudan, reporting deepening military disagreements over the demand to return the wanted criminal, Ahmed Haroun to Kober Prison.
Police Maj. Gen. Al-Tayeb Ahmed Omar, Director of Prison Police, had previously issued an official invitation to prisoners to voluntarily return to Kober Prison following the completion of maintenance work. He explained in statements that authorities had invited inmates to return more than a month ago, without receiving any response. He confirmed that all sections of Kober Prison, including the political section, which has been merged with the criminal section, are now fully prepared to receive prisoners.
A military source, who preferred to remain anonymous for security reasons, shared that a meeting was held last Tuesday at the Arkaweetresort, (205 kilometers) west of Port Sudan. This meeting brought together Islamist leaders, the most prominent of whom is Ali Karti, along with senior military and security leaders, according to the newspaper.
The source explained that during the meeting, which Al-Burhan was absent from, security leaders demanded the return of wanted criminal, Ahmed Haroun to Kober Prison. The military source added that the call for the return of prisoners isn’t a Sudanese innovation, but rather an exceptional procedure implemented in cases of regime collapse or major disasters that put prisons out of service. Similar procedures took place in Iraq in (2003), when the State issued an official call for prisoners to surrender after reopening prisons. These calls may be accompanied by legal guarantees, such as retrials, or even the possibility of pardon and reduced sentences.
Edraak quoted another source as saying that Ali Karti, the Guide of the Islamic Movement, became enraged and threatened the security leaders, saying, “Ahmed Haroun won’t return to prison except over the dead body of the Islamic Movement.” The latest development nearly ignited the situation in the Arkaweet tourist area, which Al-Burhan, along with other Islamic leaders use as a headquarters for secret meetings.
The source added that Karti had leveled accusations against security leaders of coordinating with the Ibrahim Mahmoud group, which is leading a political movement against the Ali Karti group, headed by Ahmed Haroun.
On April 25th, 2023, Haroun was able to escape from Kober Prison. In an audio message circulated on social media, he stated that he and a number of other figures from the former regime, whose names he failed to mention, had left Kober Prison in Khartoum after the chaos that had engulfed the facility erupted. In the audio message, Haroun claimed that he and other figures had decided to leave the prison with the help of prison guards and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), and had promptly been transferred to a safe location. He added that he would surrender himself to the authorities when the situation returns to normal.
