Egyptian state newspaper mocks Sudan president for attending Qatar summit

January 18, 2009 (CAIRO) — The semi-governmental Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram daily scoffed at Sudanese president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir for attending the emergency Doha meeting on the Gaza conflict held this week.

Cairo views the summit as a gathering of more radical voices working counter to its efforts to broker a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas movement which is in control of the Gaza strip.

The editor in Chief of Al-Ahram Osama Saraya who is considered close to Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak described the summit as a “comic play”.

“It was attended by five Arab presidents and the host Emir and a military ruler trying to find a legitimate adjustment to his miserable situation. They represent nothing to the Arab people torn at to what is happening to their brothers in Gaza” he wrote in his editorial.

“President Omer Hassan Al-Bashir attended at a time when he is facing arrest in 108 countries for allegations of committing genocide in Darfur” Saraya said.

International Criminal Court (ICC) judges are reviewing ten counts presented by prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo in mid-July that include three counts of genocide, five of crimes against humanity and two of murder and accused Al-Bashir of masterminding a campaign to get rid of the African tribes in Darfur; Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa.

A decision by the judges is expected shortly in the coming weeks.

Egyptians have voiced support to Al-Bashir and criticized the ICC move saying it will damage peace efforts in the region.

However following a brief visit by the Egyptian president to Khartoum last November relations between the two countries appeared to have been silently strained for unknown reasons.

Some Sudanese political analysts told Sudan Tribune that Mubarak warned Al-Bashir in their private meeting about an imminent ICC decision and advised him to step down to avert an Iraq style scenario.

Shortly afterwards an Egyptian official warned Sudan that its stance on the ICC is “weak” and will not protect Al-Bashir from prosecution.

“I thoroughly examined the ICC Statute to look for something that could aid Sudan’s position. Even though Sudan is not a state party this will not prevent the ICC jurisdiction in these cases and dropping all immunities” the Egyptian State minister for Legal and parliamentary affairs Mufid Shihab said during a forum at the Saudi Embassy in Cairo.

The Egyptian official stressed that the only way out for Sudan and its president is to take “concrete and concise steps” and that there is no point of taking extreme positions on rejecting the ICC.

The Egyptian minister, who is an international lawyer expert, has previously said in August that Khartoum is not bound by the ICC since it is not a member of the court and emphasized that Al-Bashir enjoys immunity as a head of state.

The ICC prosecutor is scheduled to visit Cairo in February for meetings with Egyptian and Arab League officials despite protests by some lawmakers.

(ST)