From: Biniam Tekle (biniamt@dehai.org)
Date: Wed Jun 09 2010 - 11:59:42 EDT
Sudan's Bashir gets invite to AU summit
Tue Jun 8, 2010 3:13pm EDT
KAMPALA (Reuters) - Uganda has backtracked on its decision not to invite
Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, who is wanted for war crimes in
Darfur, to an African Union summit in Kampala next month.
The United Nations said Tuesday that Bashir, who faces an arrest warrant
issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC), had also been invited to
an ICC review conference taking place this week in the Ugandan capital.
Bashir is wanted by the ICC on charges of ordering mass murder, rape and
torture in western Darfur. He denies the charges but has seen his travel
restricted since the war crimes court issued the arrest warrant last year.
"All leaders were invited to participate. It's not Uganda that invited
people, rather it was the UN," United Nations spokesman Farhan Haq said,
referring to the ICC conference in Kampala.
Monday, Uganda's Foreign Ministry backtracked from comments by Ugandan
President Yoweri Museveni and said Bashir had been invited to the AU Summit
next month.
Sudan had reacted angrily to an announcement by Musevini's office over the
weekend that Bashir was not invited and that Khartoum would send other
officials in his place. It demanded an apology from Uganda and called on the
AU to switch the summit to another venue.
A spokesperson for the office of the ICC prosecutor said Bashir was becoming
increasingly isolated and could not travel to the AU summit despite the
invitation because Museveni had confirmed he would be arrested.
"The consistent position of all States Parties to the ICC has been to hand
invitations to president Bashir and warn him at the same time that should he
travel to their territory, they would abide by their ICC obligations," the
spokesperson said.
Christian Wenaweser, president of the Assembly of States Parties that
oversees the work of the ICC, also described the UN invitation to Bashir as
a protocol issue.
African leaders have asked the Hague-based court to postpone any action
against Bashir but the warrant has not been lifted.
Bashir, the only sitting head of state wanted by the ICC, has had to choose
his trips carefully but he has made a point of traveling to friendly nations
in the Middle East and Africa, including Saudi Arabia, Libya and Eritrea.
(Additional reporting by Patrick Worsnip at the United Nations; editing by
Noah Barkin)
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