Sudan’s Bashir defies ICC arrest warrant, makes trip to Eritrea
March 23, 2009 (KHARTOUM) — The embattled Sudanese president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir paid a surprise visit to Eritrea despite in his first foreign trip since the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for him.
There has been intense debate and speculations on whether Bashir will venture outside the country and risk apprehension.
Last week Reuters reported that the ICC’s prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo was in New York to urge countries to act on the ICC arrest warrant against Bashir.
“As soon as he travels through the international airspace he could be arrested. Slobodan Milosevic and Charles Taylor show that the destiny of Mr. Bashir is to face justice” he said.
Bashir has received an invitation from his Eritrean counterpart Issaias Afeworki on March 11th as a show of solidarity in face of the ICC warrant.
The visit was previously unannounced though Sudanese officials insisted that it was not done in secrecy.
Reuters said that the trip was kept firmly under wraps in Sudan. State media, which normally covers the president’s every move, did not mention it throughout the morning and early afternoon.
“This visit was not secret because the president’s plane could not take off from Khartoum airport and fly to another airport without informing the parties concerned” the media official at the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) Kamal Obeid said.
Furthermore the Sudanese presidential assistant Nafi Ali Nafi said that Bashir will soon be making more trips to African countries but other officials acknowledged that any potential foreign visits will have to be evaluated for security reasons.
The African Union (AU) along with the Arab League have criticized the ICC move and signaled that they would not honor the arrest warrant.
Eritrean Information Minister Ali Abdu said that the ICC decision is “unjustifiable and illegal and illogical and futile”.
“We believe it’s an extension and symptom of the ongoing world hegemony and domination by a few powers in this world” he added.
Eritrean television showed live coverage of Bashir being greeted at the airport in the capital Asmara by Afwerki, along with drummers and dancers. Sudanese state television later Monday showed live images of al-Bashir returning to Khartoum.
Sudan official news agency quoted Bashir during a joint press conference with Afwerki as saying that the ICC ruling will not affect his movements outside Sudan.
“This looks like a symbolic act — to show he can do it. It is not that significant in itself” Fouad Hikmat, an analyst for the Nairobi-based International Crisis Group told Reuters.
“He is just crossing one of his country’s own borders, visiting a neighbor who doesn’t really have dealings with the international community” he said.
“The real question is whether he will be able to cross international air space to visit Qatar” Hikmat added.
Sudanese officials have been making conflicting statements on whether Bashir will attend annual Arab summit that is due to be held in the Arab Gulf state of Qatar later this month.
The highest Islamic authority in Sudan issued a non-binding fatwa [religious opinion] saying that Bashir should not fly to Doha in light of the current circumstances where enemies of Allah and the nation are surrounding him” the statement read
Qatar like Eritrea did not sign did not sign the ICC found treaty and therefore under no obligation to arrest him.
Bashir was accompanied by intelligence director Salah Gosh, foreign minister Deng Alor and minister for presidential affairs Bakri Hassan Salih.
(ST)