From: Biniam Tekle (biniamt@dehai.org)
Date: Wed Dec 16 2009 - 09:56:36 EST
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8414480.stm
Page last updated at 15:29 GMT, Tuesday, 15 December 2009
Summit moved to keep Bashir away
*A France-Africa summit due to be held in Egypt has been cancelled over
French concerns at the invitation of Sudan's President Omar Hassan
al-Bashir. *
The announcement came after Presidents Nicolas Sarkozy of France and Hosni
Mubarak of Egypt met in Paris.
The event, due in February, will now be held in France in May, diplomats
said.
The International Criminal Court issued a warrant for Mr Bashir's arrest in
March over atrocities in Darfur. He denies the accusations.
The venue was reportedly moved to prevent the Sudanese leader from
attending: France has said it would carry out the ICC warrant for his
arrest, whereas several African nations, including Egypt, have said they
would not.
Mr Bashir has visited several African countries since the warrant was
issued.
It accuses him of running a campaign of genocide that killed 35,000 people
outright, at least another 100,000 through a "slow death" and of forcing
two-and-a-half million to flee their homes in Darfur.
Earlier this month, Mr Bashir pulled out of an Islamic summit in Istanbul
after Turkey, which is seeking EU membership, reportedly came under pressure
from Brussels to drop him from the guest list.
Story from BBC NEWS:
----[This List to be used for Eritrea Related News Only]----