Sudan’s Bashir visits Zimbabwe in defiance of arrest warrant

June 6, 2009 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudanese President Omer Hassan Al-Bashir, who faces international arrest for war crimes in Darfur, arrived in Zimbabwe for a two-day African trade summit.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Bashir last March on seven counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Bashir also faces the possibility of genocide charges which the ICC judges scrapped by a majority saying evidence does not meet the threshold.

The ICC prosecutor said he expects an appeal on adding the charges to be granted in a few weeks.

The Sudanese head of state has flown to more than half a dozen countries since the arrest warrant but none are members of the ICC.

Zimbabwe has no duty to arrest Bashir as it is not party to the ICC, justice minister Patrick Chinamasa told AFP.

“We are aware that the President of Sudan is under an ICC warrant of arrest which he disputes. We are not a state party under the Rome Statute. We have no obligation under the Statute of Rome to execute that obligation,” he said

Bashir will join heads of state from the 19-member Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) who are set to approve a free customs union on Sunday.

(ST)