His name would be the only one put forward for a final approval vote at a party conference starting on Thursday.

Sudan’s President Omar Hassan al-Bashir has been chosen as the ruling party’s candidate in presidential election scheduled for April 2015, a senior official from the movement said on Tuesday.

The 70-year-old leader who is wanted on charges of genocide and war crimes by the International Criminal Court (ICC) had previously indicated he would not run for another term.

But Ibrahim Ghandour, vice president of the National Congress Party, told Reuters that Bashir had been chosen by the party’s decision-making council out of five candidates selected late on Monday.

His name would be the only one put forward for a final approval vote at a party conference starting on Thursday.

“The president of the party will be the candidate for the presidency according to the regulations of the party,” Ghandour said.

Bashir attended the party’s meeting on Tuesday along with the four other candidates but was the only one among them to speak. In brief remarks, he told the meeting that he would give a speech at Thursday’s conference.

The ICC has issued an arrest warrant for Bashir on charges that he orchestrated atrocities during the conflict in the strife-torn western region of Darfur. He dismisses the charges and Sudan refuses to deal with the Hague-based court.

 
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