Saudi Arabia signs major order for Turkish drones

Report from Reuters

By Aziz El Yaakoubi

Published on Tuesday July 18, 2023 at 11:29 AM GMT+1 - excerpt:

Saudi Arabia buys Turkish drones during Erdogan's visit

RIYADH, July 18 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia agreed on Tuesday to buy Turkish drones in the biggest defence contract in Turkey's history as President Tayyip Erdogan reaped the benefits of his diplomatic push to repair ties with Gulf powers and help Ankara's struggling economy.

Erdogan and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman attended the signing ceremony between Turkish defence firm Baykar and the Saudi defence ministry, Saudi state news agency SPA reported.

Full story: https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/saudi-arabia-turkey-sign-mous-energy-defence-other-fields-2023-07-18/

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Defense News - 18 Jul 2023

Saudi Arabia signs major order for Turkish drones

Erdogan will also visit Qatar and the UAE during his Gulf visit.

https://www.defensenews.com/global/mideast-africa/2023/07/18/saudi-arabia-signs-major-order-for-turkish-drones/

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Guard, gunman die in attack at US consulate in Jeddah

Report at Yahoo News
By Agence France Presse (AFP)
Published Thursday 29 June 2023, 12:31 am BST - here is a full copy:

Guard, gunman die in attack at US consulate in Jeddah: police

No Americans were harmed in the shooting outside the consulate in Jeddah, which was put under lockdown, the State Department said (MANDEL NGAN)

A security guard and a gunman were killed in an exchange of gunfire in front of the US consulate in the Saudi coastal city of Jeddah on Wednesday, officials said.

No Americans were harmed in the shooting outside the consulate, which was put under lockdown, the State Department said.

"At 6:45 pm (1545 GMT), a man stopped in a car in front of the consulate building and got out with a weapon in his hand," the official Saudi Press Agency quoted a police spokesman as saying.

"Security forces reacted... resulting in an exchange of fire that killed the assailant," it said.

A Nepalese security officer was wounded and later died, it said.

"We offer our sincere condolences to the family and loved ones of the deceased local guards member," the State Department said in a statement in Washington.

The State Department said that Saudi forces killed the assailant and that the United States was in touch with the kingdom as it starts an investigation.

"The consulate was appropriately locked down and no Americans were harmed in the attack," it said.

The attack occurred as Saudi Arabia welcomed some 1.8 million Muslim faithful for the annual hajj pilgrimage in the holy city of Mecca, some 70 kilometres (44 miles) from Jeddah.

The US consulate in the coastal city of Jeddah on the Red Sea has been the target of previous attacks, one on July 4, 2016, American Independence Day, when a suicide bomber blew himself up.

In December 2004, another attack left five people dead.

Jeddah has recently been a hub of US diplomatic activity as the United States and Saudi Arabia together try to mediate between warring generals in Sudan.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Jeddah earlier in June when he met Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

ht-saa-sct/yad

View original:  https://uk.news.yahoo.com/guard-gunman-die-attack-us-233125615.html

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Sudan: ICC will ask new govt to extradite Bashir

NOTE from Sudan Watch Editor:  According to an article by Ayin re-printed in full here below, the International Criminal Court (ICC) charges against Sudan’s former president Omar al-Bashir cannot be cancelled out by local trials since the ICC charges involve a threat to international security and cannot be waived.  Also:

• "The two arrest warrants issued against Bashir are not subject to any statute of limitations, and the court will ask the coming government to extradite him," ICC spokesman Fadi el-Abdallah told Ayin.
• Regarding the possibility of accepting Bashir's trial in Sudan, Abdallah stipulated that the government should make such a request with guarantees that ensure an impartial investigation following the same charges initially filed by the international court.
• Bashir’s defence team told Ayin the ICC charges against the former president do not concern them as the decision in this matter belongs to the state and its officials.
• Defence lawyer Mohammed el Hassan el Ameen said they are focusing on Bashir’s charges of possession of foreign money in his office at the general command exclusively. “We, as a defence team, have not addressed the issue of the ICC, and there is a near agreement within the defence team, which is composed of more than 100 lawyers, not to go into the ICC issue and the charges against Bashir,” he said. 

Article from and by Ayin Network.com

Dated Tuesday 17 September 2019 

Bashir national trial continues, but ICC trial remains blocked

As the trial of deposed former president Omar Al-Bashir is set to continue this week, several sources claim former members of the ruling party, the National Congress Party, had prepared a plan to ensure the former president does not appear before the International Criminal Court and remain tried within the country.

Last week a packed courtroom heard the testimony of the former president’s office manager, Yaseer Basheer, claiming that the president gave him US$ 11 million, of which US$ 5 million was given to the notorious militia, the Rapid Support Forces. Bashir also gave US$ 4 million to the director and deputy director of the International University of Africa, a private institution with links to Islamists, according to the university’s accountant. Speaking for the first time in court, Bashir claimed he had received US$25 million from the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, among other sources. The former 30-year long authoritarian ruler is facing charges of possessing illicit foreign currency.

Speaking for the first time in court, Bashir claimed he had received US$ 25 million from the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, among other sources.

While Bashir’s gross fiscal mismanagement is gradually revealed in a national court, charges of crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide in Darfur by the International Criminal Court (ICC) may never see the light of day.

Fearing their own implication through an ICC trial, several former ruling party cadres have lobbied members of the Sovereign Council to prevent Bashir’s trial to leave the national stage, according to sources close to the former ruling party that cannot be named for security reasons. The decision to ensure Bashir did not face the two ICC arrest warrants against him took place directly after the former president’s overthrow on 11 April, according to near-identical statements from the sources.

The plan to spare Bashir international legal scrutiny was adopted by the then Chairman of the Political Committee in the Military Council, General Omar Zain al Abideen, and announced during a press conference following Bashir’s ouster. Several National Congress Party (NCP) lawmakers and Gen. Abideen decided to file a police report against Bashir to bring him before an internal court, effectively blocking the ICC whose laws do not allow it to intervene in the event of legitimate national judicial proceedings.

“The two arrest warrants issued against Bashir are not subject to any statute of limitations, and the court will ask the coming government to extradite him,” ICC spokesman Fadi al-Abdullah told Ayin.

ICC

But the ICC has confirmed its determination to pursue Bashir at all costs, outlining the cases in which Bashir’s arrest warrants have been issued are not subject to the statute of limitations. “The two arrest warrants issued against Bashir are not subject to any statute of limitations, and the court will ask the coming government to extradite him,” ICC spokesman Fadi al-Abdullah told Ayin. Regarding the possibility of accepting Al-Bashir’s trial in Sudan, Abdullah stipulated that the government should make such a request with guarantees that ensure an impartial investigation following the same charges initially filed by the international court.

Advocate and international law expert Salih Mahmood said the ICC charges against Bashir cannot be canceled out by local trials since the ICC charges involve a threat to international security and cannot be waived. Mahmood supported the jurisprudence behind the ICC charges against Bashir, stressing that the national courts lacked independence and obstructed legal procedures by the existing authority at the time. 

The advocate claims these circumstances are still the same. “International law gives priority to national courts, but this priority is given in a climate of freedom, independence of the judiciary, and a favourable political situation consistent with international standards of justice,” Mahmood said. “The jurisdiction of the Sudanese courts to try Bashir does not apply –we have not yet seen the independence of the judiciary or even a favourable atmosphere for the trial of Bashir at home.”

Calls for judicial reform are growing. Mass protests organised by the Sudan Professionals Association took place on Thursday in Khartoum and several other towns calling for the replacement of senior judiciary officials and justice for those killed during the protests earlier this year. Sovereign Council member Siddiq Tawer tried to placate the crowd in Khartoum. “The appointment of an independent judiciary chief and a general attorney is one of the government’s priorities considering that justice is one of the demands of the revolution.  All those who have committed a crime against the people and country during the previous regime’s rule will be held accountable,” said Tawer.

“We, as a defense team, have not addressed the issue of the ICC, and there is a near agreement within the defense

Defence team not addressing ICC

Bashir’s defense team told Ayin the ICC charges against the former president do not concern them as the decision in this matter belongs to the state and its officials.

Defense lawyer Mohammed el Hassan el Ameen said they are focusing on Bashir’s charges of possession of foreign money in his office at the general command exclusively. “We, as a defense team, have not addressed the issue of the ICC, and there is a near agreement within the defense team, which is composed of more than 100 lawyers, not to go into the ICC issue and the charges against Bashir,” he said. “There are many statements made in the media by the leaders of the transitional government that affirm they are the decision-makers in trying the president internally or handing him over to the International Criminal Court,” he adds. “It’s not time yet.”

Countless conflict-displaced people in the western Darfur region may not agree with Bashir’s defense team. Mowada Yacoub is an internally displaced person [IDP] still eking out a living in Zam Zam camp in North Darfur and told Ayin justice for Bashir and his associates past war crimes should be a priority for the new transitional government. “The Bashir government is the reason why we are in the IDP camps and lost our families,” Yacoub told Ayin. “I lost my father, I lost my brother, grandfather, uncle –all of this happened during this war. We don’t feel happy after that – even our house was set on fire and our land taken by militias. I lost all of that because of the Bashir government.”

View original article: https://3ayin.com/bashir-national-trial-continues-but-icc-trial-remains-blocked/

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FURTHER READING

From the website of the International Criminal Court (ICC):

Pre-trial

Once the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) has sufficient evidence against an individual, it submits a request to the Pre-Trial judges to issue a warrant of arrest or summons to appear.  

Read more:  https://www.icc-cpi.int/Pages/Pre-Trial.aspx

Al Bashir Case

The Prosecutor v. Omar Hassan Ahmad Al Bashir

The first warrant for arrest for Omar Hassan Ahmad Al Bashir was issued on 4 March 2009, the second on 12 July 2010.  The suspect is still at large.  

Next steps:  Until Omar Al Bashir is arrested and transferred to the seat of the Court in The Hague, the case will remain in the Pre-Trial stage. The ICC does not try individuals unless they are present in the courtroom.

Charges: five counts of crimes against humanity: murder, extermination, forcible transfer, torture, and rape; two counts of war crimes: intentionally directing attacks against a civilian population as such or against individual civilians not taking part in hostilities, and pillaging; three counts of genocide: by killing, by causing serious bodily or mental harm, and by deliberately inflicting on each target group conditions of life calculated to bring about the group's physical destruction, allegedly committed at least between 2003 and 2008 in Darfur, Sudan.  

Read more:  https://www.icc-cpi.int/darfur/albashir

Alleged crimes (non-exhaustive list)

Read more:  https://www.icc-cpi.int/darfur/albashir/pages/alleged-crimes.aspx

Pre-trial Chamber II 

Situation in Darfur, Sudan in the case of The Prosecutor v. Omar Hassan Ahmad Al Bashir.  Decision on the non-compliance by the Republic of Djibouti with the request to arrest and surrender Omar Al-Bashir to the Court and referring the matter to the United Nations Security Council and the Assembly of the State Parties to the Rome Statute.  

Read more:  https://asp.icc-cpi.int/iccdocs/asp_docs/Non-coop/ICC-02-05-01-09-266-ENG.pdf