Sudan's Bashir, veteran strongman who thumbed nose at ICC

Since his ouster amid popular protests, Sudan's veteran leader Omar al-Bashir has been held behind bars after having thumbed his nose for more than a decade at the International Criminal Court.

On Wednesday, Foreign Minister Mariam al-Mahdi said Sudan's cabinet agreed to hand over Bashir to the Hague-based court.The fallen strongman has been indicted by the ICC over war crimes and genocide in the war-ravaged Darfur region of western Sudan.

As president, Bashir openly defied the ICC, travelling within Africa and further afield to countries including Russia and China and winning re-election in 2010 and 2015 in polls boycotted by opposition groups.For three decades, he had tenaciously held onto power, even after the 2011 Arab Spring revolts that toppled Hosni Mubarak of Egypt and Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

But Bashir's fate was sealed after his own military reacted to mounting popular anger against the regime and ousted him in April 2019 after months of street demonstrations.The 77-year-old, who had ruthlessly crushed dissent after his rise to power in a 1989 Islamist-backed coup, has since been held in Khartoum's Kober prison.Already convicted of corruption, Bashir also went on trial in Sudan in July 2020 over the coup in which he grabbed power.

 Darfur conflict Bashir showed many different faces during his 30 years at the helm.Known for his trademark dancing and waving of a cane before addressing loyalists, Bashir had remained defiant in the face of growing street protests before his overthrow.

Bashir was indicted in 2009 by the ICC over the Darfur conflict that erupted in 2003 when ethnic minority rebels took up arms, accusing Khartoum of political and economic marginalisation of their region.The United Nations estimates 300,000 people were killed and 2.5 million displaced in the conflict.Human rights groups say Khartoum targeted suspected pro-rebel ethnic groups with a scorched earth policy, raping, killing, looting and burning villages.

 Protests Bashir, who has two wives and no children, was born in 1944 in Hosh Bannaga, north of Khartoum, to a farming family.He entered the military at a young age, rising through the ranks and joining an elite parachute regiment.He fought alongside the Egyptian army in the 1973 Arab-Israeli war.

In 1989, as brigade commander, he led the bloodless coup orchestrated by Islamist scholar Hassan al-Turabi against the democratically-elected government then led by Sadiq al-Mahdi.A career soldier, Bashir was known for his populist touch, insisting on being close to crowds and addressing them in colloquial Sudanese Arabic.He made several public appearances even as protests raged against him following his government's decision in December 2018 to triple bread prices.

At a rally in January 2019, Bashir voiced his disdain for protesters, calling them "traitors", "conspirators" and "rats" that should "return to their holes".But the protests kept going until tens of thousands marched on April 6, 2019 to set up a sprawling encampment outside the army headquarters in Khartoum.  Months of unrest and clashes with security forces left dozens dead, hundreds wounded and thousands jailed.

 Hosting bin Laden Between 1992 and 1996, Bashir had led Sudan towards a more radical brand of Islam, hosting Al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden, and sending jihadist volunteers to fight in the country's civil war with the south Sudanese.Bin Laden was expelled under US pressure after Washington placed Sudan on its list of "state sponsors of terrorism".Under Bashir's rule, ethnically diverse Sudan saw the south gain its independence in 2011 after two decades of conflict between the Arab Muslim north and the mainly Christian or animist south.

The secession -- under a peace deal that Bashir accepted -- saw the south take the bulk of Sudan's oil fields.As economic woes mounted, Bashir's cash-strapped administration broke ties with Shiite Iran in favour of its rival, Saudi Arabia.

Khartoum provided troops to the Saudi-led coalition battling Iran-backed Shiite rebels in Yemen.In his corruption trial, Bashir admitted to having received millions of dollars from Saudi royals, including the kingdom's de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.He insisted the funds "were not used for private interests but as donations" to support individuals and entities.