Sudan’s Bashir cancels Sennar visit amid reports of being hospitalized
November 24, 2008 (KHARTOUM) — The Sudanese president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir canceled a trip to the state of Sennar this weekend amid reports that he was admitted to hospital for unknown reasons.
SUNA quoted the state governor Ahmed Abbas as saying that all preparations for receiving Al-Bashir are complete.
But on Sunday the Sudanese head of state made a brief appearance at the funeral of the Umma party Secretary General Dr. Abdel-Nabi Ahmed and his planned trip appeared to have been scrapped.
There was no official announcement on the cancellation of the Sennar trip or reasons behind it.
Some sources in Khartoum told Sudan Tribune that Al-Bashir fell ill last week and was secretly hospitalized.
However these reports could not be independently verified.
Al-Bashir will travel to the Gulf state of Qatar this week for a conference on development where he is also supposed to hold a meeting with Chadian president Idriss Deby.
In mid-July the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor Luis Moreno- Ocampo filed 10 charges against Al-Bashir: 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.
The Judges are still reviewing the evidence before deciding on whether to issue an arrest warrant.
Khartoum has so far failed to convince Western countries at the UN Security Council (UNSC) to invoke Article 16 which allows the council to suspend the ICC prosecutions in any case for a period of 12 months that can be renewed indefinitely.
(ST)