Mali’s foreign minister arrives in Khartoum on Monday

August 28, 2016 (KHARTOUM) – The Malian Minister of Foreign Abdoulaye Diop will start an official visit to Khartoum on Monday, Sudan’s Foreign Affairs Ministry disclosed.

According to the Foreign Ministry spokesperson Gharib Allah Khidir, Diop would extend an invitation from Mali’s President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta to President Omer al-Bashir to attend the summit meeting of La Francophonie heads of state and government in Bamako next January.

The summit, Khidir said, would discuss various issues including terrorism, illegal migration, arms and human trafficking and organized crime besides the fight against the extremist group Al-Qaida in Mali.

He further said Diop would hold talks with Sudan’s Foreign Minister Ibrahim Ghandour, saying the two ministers would discuss bilateral ties as well as the security and political situation in the region.

Al-Bashir is under two International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrants since 2008 for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes allegedly committed in Darfur.

Mali ratified the Rome Statute of the ICC on 16 August 2000 and therefore has an obligation to arrest al-Bashir.

(ST)