Chinese envoy flies to Sudan next Tuesday as ICC decision nears
January 3, 2009 (KHARTOUM) – The Chinese special envoy to Sudan Liu Guijin will arrive in Sudan next Tuesday on a four day visit, state media reported today.
There was no mention of Guijin meeting with the Sudanese president.
The Sudanese diplomat said that Khartoum attaches major importance to the visit given that Guijin recently returned from Russia to coordinate positions with Moscow.
Last month Russia named the speaker of the upper house of the Russian parliament, Mikhail Margelov as the first envoy to Sudan.
Guijin’s visit comes amidst wide expectations that the International Criminal Court (ICC) will issue an arrest warrant for Sudanese president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir in the coming weeks.
In mid-July the 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 the Sudanese president of masterminding a campaign to get rid of the African tribes in Darfur; Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa.
China which initially called on the UN Security Council (UNSC) to stall the ICC move appears to have backed away.
Sudan has been counting on its veto wielding allies at the UNSC such as China and Russia to invoke Article 16 of the ICC Statute to suspend Bashir’s indictment for one year.
But last September the Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Zhai Jun, advised Khartoum “to deal with the ICC” and not to rely on their veto power.
SUNA reported that Guijin will fly to Addis Ababa from Khartoum to meet with AU Chairman Jean Ping.
(ST)