Sudanese president cancels his planned trip to Malaysia

June 15, 2011 (WASHINGTON) – The Sudanese president Omer Hassan al-Bashir has told the Malaysian government that “pressing engagements” have forced him to cancel his appearance at an economic forum that starts on Sunday.

Last weekend it was announced in Kuala Lumpur that Bashir has confirmed his attendance at the 9th Langkawi International Dialogue (LID) from June 19 to 21.

This year’s dialogue has been designed with the objective of expanding the existing social and economic network between Malaysia and the participating countries from Africa and the Caribbean.

“The latest information which I got before I came here was that the Sudanese president will not be able to make it because he has other pressing engagements” Malaysia foreign affairs minister Anifah Aman told Bernama state TV on Wednesday night.

“However, they [Sudan] will send their foreign minister over,” he added.

Deputy foreign minister Kohilan Pillay confirmed the comments Thursday.

“Yes, it is confirmed. He is not coming,” he told Agence France Presse (AFP). “He will send his representative”.

Bashir’s planned trip generated controversy because of an outstanding arrest warrant against him by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes and genocide he allegedly masterminded in Sudan’s western region of Darfur.

Darfur was plunged into turmoil in 2003, when ethnic African rebels took up arms against the Arab-dominated Sudanese government, which they accuse of discrimination.

Al-Bashir’s regime is accused of retaliating by unleashing Arab militias on civilians — a charge the government denies. The U.N. estimates 300,000 people have died and 2.7 million have been displaced in the conflict.

Malaysia announced last March that it plans to ratify the Rome Statute which is the founding treaty of the court. However, as of now the Asian nation has no obligation to apprehend Bashir should he visits.

This week Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch (HRW) both called on Malaysia to either withdraw its invitation or arrest him should he decide to attend the summit. Both groups said that receiving Bashir goes against its intention to join ICC.

The Malaysian law minister Nazri Aziz was quoted earlier this year as saying that moving towards joining the Hague based court “is a declaration that Malaysia rejects war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide”.

An aide to the Malaysian foreign minister told the Associated Press that the cancellation of Bashir’s visit had nothing to do with the ICC arrest warrants. The aide, who declined to be named because he is not authorized to speak to the media, couldn’t give further details.

Yesterday the Malaysian Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz said he would recommend at the cabinet meeting on Friday to withdraw Bashir’s invitation.

“I am taking this matter seriously and I want to discuss in the Cabinet because the Cabinet has decided that we should accede to the Rome Statute” Abdul Aziz was quoted as saying by Malaysian media.

“As such, I would strongly recommend to the government to withdraw the invitation,” he added.

Abdul Aziz said that if Bashir decides to fulfill the invitation because it can be an embarrassment to Malaysia.

“There’s a big issue about him not being arrested even though we are not a member of ICC yet” Abdul Aziz said.

Speaking to reporters in Parliament, Abdul Aziz said the decision to invite Bashir was not discussed in the cabinet. He said the government, which had decided to accede the Rome Statute, should act in a manner that complies with the statute.

“I believe that our foreign office has got strong reasons for inviting him for the moment. I will still bring this matter up to the cabinet because since we are going to accede to the Rome statute.

On Wednesday HRW sent a letter to the Malaysian Prime Minister urging him to withdraw the invitation.

“We understand that the issue of President al-Bashir’s invitation will be discussed at a Cabinet meeting on June 17. We ask you to use the meeting as an opportunity to make clear to the government of Sudan that Malaysia does not, nor will it ever, permit impunity for serious international crimes, and to rescind the invitation to President al-Bashir” said the letter made public today.

“Should he still come to Malaysia, he should be promptly arrested and turned over to the International Criminal Court so he can face justice”.

The Sudanese government has maintained silence over Malaysia’s invitation. His travel has been restricted as a result of the warrant even to non-ICC members. In 2009 the Sudanese leader was forced to cancel his appearance at the last minute at a summit in Turkey following behind the scenes pressure from officials in Ankara.

Last year Libya also asked Bashir to stay away from the EU-Africa summit to avoid a mass walkout by European nations.

Bashir is reportedly set to travel to Iran and China next week, both of which are non-ICC members.

(ST)