US warns Malawi not to host Sudan’s Bashir at AU summit
March 28, 2012 (KHARTOUM) – The United States told Malawi that the hold on hundreds of millions of dollars of aid may remain in place if it decides to allow Sudanese president Omer Hassan al-Bashir to attend the African Union (AU) summit next June.
“The MCC Board expressed very serious concerns about the economic and political situation in Malawi, and emphasized the need for the Government of Malawi to respect the rights of its citizens and civil society organizations to assemble and speak freely,” the MCC statement said.
The US body also said that Malawi’s hosting of Bashir last year was a contributing factor to the decision.
“Malawi’s decision to allow Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir to attend a trade summit in Lilongwe, despite the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) outstanding warrant for his arrest, further deepened MCC’s concerns,” said the statement.
On Monday, the MCC’s deputy vice president for east and southern Africa, Andrew Moyock, told journalists in Lilongwe through a video conference that the Malawi will be assessed in three months time.
According to the Nyasa Times Moyock warned that any re-evaluation will take into consideration whether Malawi hosts the Sudanese leader in the AU summit.
The US official said Malawi’s chances to qualify for the funding will be greatly affected if Bashir ended up visiting again, adding that will would be in violation of its obligations under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC), which it ratified on 19 September 2002.
“The ball is in Malawi’s court, we will wait and see how the matter will be handled,” Moyock said.
The chairperson of the organising committee for the summit, Sidik Mia told media in Malawi that the government had sent invitations to all countries with AU membership including Sudan.
He would not say whether Bashir has confirmed attendance.
The Hague-based court issued two arrest warrants for Bashir on 10 counts of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide in Darfur and as a signatory to the ICC’s statute, Malawi was obligated to execute the warrants and arrest the Sudanese leader on its soil.
Malawian President had previously said that African leaders should not be dragged to the ICC for offences committed in Africa.
At the time US Congressman Frank Wolf called on President Barack Obama to cut aid to Malawi.
“We’re asking that the Millennium Challenge (Account) grant be pulled back and canceled, totally canceled, and all foreign aid be ceased. Here we’re going to give American taxpayer dollars in these tight economic times to a country that has welcomed Bashir and that’s inappropriate,” Wolf said.
Malawi’s budget has traditionally relied on aid for about 40% of its funding.
(ST)