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| Sudanese president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir (AFP) |
The Sudanese president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir will not attend the Special Summit of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGR) which is scheduled to take place in Lusaka on December 15.
Sudan official news agency (SUNA) reported that the country’s delegation to the summit will be led by foreign minister Ali Karti and minerals minister Abdel-Baki Al-Gailani.
The decision by Bashir not participate in the summit will spare Zambia international criticism for receiving a man wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.
Zambia as a full member of the ICC is obliged to arrest Bashir should he arrives on its territory.
On December 5th Sudan official news agency (SUNA) said that Bashir received an invitation from his Zambian counterpart Rupiah Banda to participate in the summit.
SUNA had reported that Zambian envoy who met Bashir as saying that the latter “responded positively” to the invitation.
On Wednesday, the ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo officially notified the Pre-Trial Chamber I that Bashir might attempt to travel to two ICC states namely Senegal and Zambia.
“Public statements and publications have suggested that Omar Al Bashir intends to visit the Republic of Senegal in the period between 10 – 31 December 2010 and the Republic of Zambia on 15 December 2010” Ocampo said in his filing dated December 8th.
“The Prosecution believes, in line with earlier submissions to the Chamber that this information may be of interest to the Chamber. The Prosecution will submit any additional confirmation it receives of Omar Al Bashir’s planned visits to the Republic of Senegal and the Republic of Zambia”.
Last week, the Zambian Minister of Information and Broadcasting Lieutenant General Ronnie Shikapwasha told local media that his country will not execute the arrest warrant and that the Sudanese leader is free to visit.
“There is no question of whether Mr. Al-Bashir will be arrested or not, Zambia is a member of the African Union and the AU says he has not been found guilty on those crimes so he will not be arrested,” he said.
The AU issued a resolution requiring its members not to cooperate with the ICC in apprehending Bashir even if they are ICC members.
Chad and Kenya used the resolution this year to justify allowing the Sudanese head of state to visit without arresting him.
But some African states such as South Africa, Uganda and Botswana have declared that Bashir is liable for arrest if he visits despite the AU decision. Even Kenya ducked out of hosting an event the Sudanese president was to attend in October and opted to move it to Ethiopia to avoid international criticism.
This month Bashir was forced to cancel appearance at independence celebrations in the Central African Republic (CAR), another ICC member, after diplomatic pressure from France.
He was also asked by Libya to stay away from the Africa-EU summit in Tripoli to avoid a mass walkout by the European Bloc.
A United Nations Security Council (UNSC) diplomat had told Agence France Presse (AFP) that Zambia’s position on Bashir remains vague.
"Zambia invited him but it is not saying clearly what it will do if he goes. This will be a test of the new trend against Bashir," said one Security Council diplomat. Human rights groups, opposition leaders and religious figures in Zambia have criticized the government for making the invitation.
On Thursday, the Sudanese ambassador to the UN has deflected a question on whether Bashir will attend the summit in Lusaka or not but stressed that there are no restrictions on his travel.
"President Bashir will continue to travel, nobody will be able to restrict him," Sudan’s UN ambassador Daffa-Alla Elhag Ali Osman told reporters after a briefing to the UNSC by the ICC prosecutor.
The ICC prosecutor has described Bashir as someone who is under “country arrest” because of a series of absences and disinvitations to events he was invited to.
(ST)
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