The Sudanese army has detained Ahmed Haroun, the chairman of Sudan's former ruling National Congress Party and a man wanted by the International Criminal Court, two officials in his party told Reuters on Sunday.

Haroun was detained around midday, according to the National Congress Party, which said no reason was given for the move and called for his immediate release. The circumstances of the detention and Haroun's current location were not immediately clear, and Sudanese authorities had not publicly announced any charges against him.

The party condemned the detention as an arbitrary use of state authority and said it contradicted calls by Sudanese leaders for a national political dialogue. It said Haroun had been detained for expressing his political views and pledged to use all available means to secure his release.

The arrest came shortly after Haroun made a rare public appearance in a televised interview in which he discussed the war, the relationship between the former ruling party and the Sudanese military, and the country's political future. In the interview, broadcast on Saturday, he argued that his party and the army might not be politically aligned but stood united in the war against the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.

Haroun has been wanted by the International Criminal Court since 2007 over alleged crimes committed in Darfur between 2003 and 2004. The court's arrest warrant contains 20 counts of crimes against humanity and 22 counts of war crimes, including allegations of murder, persecution, forcible transfer, rape, torture, attacks against civilians and pillaging.

He served in senior positions under former President Omar al-Bashir, including as state minister for the interior and governor of South Kordofan. Al-Bashir's government was overthrown in April 2019, and Haroun has been in hiding for years since escaping from Kobar Prison in Khartoum as the civil war tore through the capital in 2023.

Haroun has rejected the ICC accusations and previously described the case against him as politically motivated. The court has repeatedly sought his arrest and transfer to The Hague, where his case remains at the pre-trial stage because he has not appeared before the court.

The latest detention raises questions over whether Sudanese authorities intend to pursue domestic proceedings, continue holding him on separate grounds or take any action regarding the outstanding ICC warrant. No official announcement had been made on those issues, and there was no immediate comment from the Sudanese army or from the court in The Hague.

The arrest surprised many observers because Haroun had only the day before publicly presented his party as an ally of the army in the civil war. Why the army moved against an ally remains unclear, and party officials could not say where he was being held or what would happen to him next.