Sudan military gives initial approval for Bashir medical travel, lawyer says
September 30, 2026 (KHARTOUM) – Sudan’s military authorities have granted initial approval for ousted former president Omer al-Bashir to travel abroad for medical treatment, though the decision has yet to be carried out, a lawyer on his defence team said on Wednesday.
Bashir, 82, who was deposed during a popular uprising in 2019, has been held under preventive detention since war erupted across the country in mid-April 2023.
Lawyer Mohamed El-Hassan El-Amin said medical facilities in Sudan lack the equipment necessary to carry out diagnostic tests required for Bashir’s condition, though he is not currently critical.
“Field Marshal al-Bashir is not in critical condition right now, but he has symptoms that require tests and procedures unavailable in Sudan,” El-Amin told Sudan Tribune.
“A request was made to authorities to approve his travel for treatment, and initial approval was granted, but it has not been executed yet.”
El-Amin said any medical release or foreign travel remains subject to final sign-off from top military and political leaders, adding that Bashir’s legal team continues to press for permission.
Bashir and key allies had been on trial for orchestrating the June 30, 1989 military coup that brought him to power, but court proceedings were suspended indefinitely when fighting broke out between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.
In September 2024, military authorities moved Bashir, former first vice president Bakri Hassan Saleh, former defence minister Abdel Rahim Mohamed Hussein, and retired brigadier general Yousif Abdel Fattah from the Wadi Sayidna military area in Omdurman to a hospital in the northern town of Merowe due to failing health.
Saleh and Abdel Fattah were freed on medical grounds in April 2025.
Bashir has since been transferred back to the capital area and is receiving treatment under custody at the Aliaa specialist military hospital in Omdurman, across the Nile from Khartoum, El-Amin said.