|
Sudan's al-Bashir in Eritrea despite ICC warrant
Sudan's president visited Eritrea on Monday on his first foreign visit since he was indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes in Darfur, Eritrea's government said. President Omar Hassan al-Bashir risks arrest when he leaves Sudan after The Hague-based court issued a warrant for him this month on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity. "Yes, he is here," Eritrean Information Minister Ali Abdu Ahmed told Reuters by telephone. "He is meeting with President Isaias [Afwerki], and they are discussing bilateral relations. Why should we worry about the ICC issue?" On Sunday Sudanese state media said local Islamic scholars had advised the president not to travel to an Arab summit in Qatar at the end of March. "This looks like a symbolic act -- to show he can do it. It is not that significant in itself," said Fouad Hikmat, an analyst for the Nairobi-based International Crisis Group. "He is just crossing one of his country's own borders, visiting a neighbour who doesn't really have dealings with the international community," he said, adding: "The real question is whether he will be able to cross international air space to visit Qatar." Mutrif Siddig, under-secretary at the Sudanese Foreign Ministry, said al-Bashir had accepted an invitation from Eritrea's government and would be returning to Sudan later on Monday. "If we felt there was a risk we would not have allowed him to travel. But we felt that he was safe," Siddig said. "Whenever this situation comes up again [travel abroad], we will evaluate the situation on a case by case basis." Posted by: Fred 2009-03-24 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=265854 |