Sudanese president calls Iraq’s Talabani to confirm attendance at Arab League summit

March 24, 2012 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudanese president Omer Hassan al-Bashir made a call to his Iraqi counterpart Jalal Talabani on Saturday to confirm his attendance at the Arab League taking place in Baghdad next week.

The statement issued by the Iraqi presidency gave no further details.

Bashir has recently expressed reluctance to attend the summit citing the security situation in Iraq.

Furthermore, the Kurdistan News Agency (AKnews) quoted an anonymous Iraqi foreign ministry official as saying that the International Criminal Police Organisation (INTERPOL) had officially notified Baghdad about its intention to arrest Bashir should he attend the summit.

But later the Iraqi foreign ministry issued a statement in which it strongly denied receiving any such request and emphasised that Bashir’s security is “100% guaranteed”.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued two warrants for Bashir, one dating from March 2009 on five counts of crimes against humanity and two counts of war crimes, and one issued in July 2010, on three counts of genocide allegedly committed in Darfur.

Iraq is not signatory to the Rome Statute of the Hague-based court and is therefore not legally obligated to apprehend Bashir. The 2005 United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolution referring Darfur to the ICC made cooperation for non-state parties optional and not mandatory.

(ST)