Sudan interior min resigns over building collapse

KHARTOUM, June 16 (Reuters) – Sudan’s powerful interior minister has resigned after a building he owned collapsed killing at least one person, an interior ministry official said on Thursday.

“He (Abdel Rahim Mohamed Hussein) resigned yesterday because of the building which collapsed,” said Abu Obeida Abdelaziz, head of the interior ministry information office.

Abdelaziz said a justice ministry report concluded that while Hussein was not personally responsible for the collapse in February, the interior ministry’s engineering consultation department bore some responsibility.

Hussein, a major-general in the armed forces, has been interior minister since 2000 and is a close ally of President Omar Hassan al-Bashir.

He is believed to have played a significant role in quelling an uprising in the remote western Darfur region.

Tens of thousands were killed and more than two million driven from their homes in the fighting in Darfur, which has run into its third year.

The U.N. Security Council has asked the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate alleged war crimes in the region. The ICC launched its probe last week.