October 23, 2009 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudanese president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir will not attend the African Union (AU) Peace and Security Council session that will be held in Abuja, Nigeria next week.
- Sudanese President Omer Hassan al-Bashir (AFP)
The pro-government Al-Rayaam newspaper said that 2nd Vice President Ali Osman Taha will lead Sudan’s delegation to the summit which will discuss the report of the AU Panel on Darfur led by former South African president Thabo Mbeki.
A controversy erupted this week after it was revealed that Bashir was invited by the Nigerian government to attend with promises that he will not be arrested in light of the International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant for him.
Nigeria is a state party to the Rome Statute which established the court but is also one of the AU countries that decided last July that they will not cooperate in apprehending the Sudanese president.
A source in the Nigerian government told Agence France Presse (AFP) that Bashir is “still considering the invitation, afraid we may turn him in, which will not happen”.
“Hand him over to who when he is invited by the AU?” he added.
Asked to confirm if the Sudanese president was invited, Nigerian Foreign Minister Ojo Maduekwe said he was not going “to speculate on who is invited and who is not”.
The Nigerian based NEXT online news portal quoted “reliable diplomatic sources” in Abuja as saying that the government does not want to break ranks with the AU yet seeking to fulfill international obligation.
“My reasoning is that government is merely inviting Sudan as a country with a veiled message that someone higher in the Sudanese government but not Bashir would be the welcomed guest,” said the source.
“As one of the main issues to be discussed will be on Darfur” he added.
However, Amnesty International condemned the invitation and urged Nigeria to arrest Bashir once he sets foot in the country.
Nigeria joins South Africa and Uganda in the list of African ICC member countries the Sudanese president has shied away from despite receiving invitations to visit.
Since the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Bashir last March, he has been to seven countries - Eritrea, Egypt, Libya, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia and Zimbabwe — none of which are signatories to the ICC treaty.
Last month Al-Bashir’s adviser Ghazi Salah Al-Deen told Associated Press in an interview that the ICC arrest warrant forced his boss to limit his movements abroad.
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