Sudan Transfers Governor Wanted on War Crimes Charges

The governor of Sudan's war-torn South Kordofan state, who is wanted on war crimes charges, has been transferred to a neighboring region where fighting spread this year, the presidency said on Friday.

Ahmed Haroun's move to North Kordofan, where he will be acting governor, comes as part of changes which establish a new state of West Kordofan, presidential press secretary Emad Sayed Ahmed said in a statement.

Haroun was elected governor of South Kordofan in a May 2011 election disputed by his opponent from the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N).

Khartoum tried to disarm the Movement's military wing, leading to war the following month.

Fighting then spread to Blue Nile state in September 2011.

Later that year the ethnic minority SPLM-N joined rebels from Sudan's far-west Darfur region to form the Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF) to topple the 24-year Islamist regime of President Omar al-Bashir.

The SRF in April this year staged its first joint operation, sweeping through a previously peaceful part of North Kordofan as part of coordinated attacks in the region.

Analysts said the rebel strike humiliated the authorities, who took a month to retake one of the seized areas, Abu Kershola in the far-north of South Kordofan.

Haroun is sought by The Hague-based International Criminal Court on 22 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity allegedly committed in Darfur several years ago.