Sudanese President to visit Ethiopia next week

By Tesfa-alem Tekle

April 18, 2009 (ADDIS ABABA) – Sudanese President Omer Hassan Al-Bashir will travel next week to Addis Ababa to take part in a joint meeting between the two neighboring countries, the Ethiopian foreign ministry said on Saturday.

The International criminal Court (ICC) on March 4 issued an arrest warrant for President Al-Bashir on war crimes and crimes against humanity. However defying the decision, he visited Eritrea, Egypt and Libya before to attend the Arab summit in Qatar.

“The Ethiopia-Sudanese joint committee meeting is now rescheduled and both sides will hold their joint meeting on Tuesday April 21, 2009 in Addis Ababa” reached by phone Ministry’s spokesperson Wahde Belay told Sudan Tribune.

According to sources from the ministry of foreign affairs the Sudanese president Omer Al-Bashir would also come to attend the joint high level meeting leading his delegation.

The spokes person declined to give further details.

The joint meeting will discuss issues related to the two countries’ bilateral cooperation on various fields; economic, cultural and security issues being among others.

Last week the joint meeting was postponed for the second time after both governments said that they were tied up of being engaged in other urgent commitments in their respective countries.

The annual Ethiopia-Sudanese meeting was originally scheduled to be held on March 10 but it was unclearly postponed after (ICC) arrest warrant against Bashir.

Following the ICC decision Ethiopia, is not a state party to the Rome Statute, strongly voiced its opposition to the decision saying it is against the interest of Sudanese people and African countries.

(ST)