Sudanese president to skip Great Lakes summit in Uganda

December 14, 2011 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudanese president Omer Hassan al-Bashir will not participate in the heads of states summit of the International Conference of the Great Lakes region (ICGLR) that will start tomorrow in the Ugandan capital.

Sources in the foreign ministry told Sudan Tribune that Bashir is not planning on heading to Kampala but did not say who will represent the country in the summit.

Egypt official news agency (MENA) reported that Sudan’s 2nd Vice President al-Haj Adam Youssef will lead the country’s delegation instead of his boss.

Bashir is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on ten charges of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide allegedly committed in Sudan’s western region of Darfur.

The ICC warrant has hindered Bashir’s movements to a large extent though he still able to travel to a number of friendly countries including members of the court such as Chad, Kenya, Djibouti and Malawi.

Uganda is a signatory to the Rome Statute which is the founding text of the Hague-based court and is therefore legally obligated to arrest the Sudanese leader if he visits.

An African Union (AU) resolution in July 2009 instructed countries in the continent not to cooperate with the ICC In apprehending Bashir.

Despite the continental body’s decision, Kampala in the past has warned Bashir not to try and visit forcing him to avoid the country since the arrest warrant was issued.

However this time Ugandan officials appeared to give assurances to the Sudanese president.

Local press in Uganda quoted the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Henry Okello Oryem as saying that Bashir will be coming as head of state and will not be arrested even though Uganda is signatory of ICC Statute.

Oryem noted that Bashir had visited many countries and had not been arrested and Uganda will not be the first to commit such an act.

But diplomatic sources in New York said that Kampala privately asked Sudan to dispatch an official other than Bashir for tomorrow’s conference.

Relations between Sudan and Uganda have been frosty for almost two years over the latter’s support for south’s independence, position on the warrant for Bashir and hosting some Darfur rebel figures.

Last October, Sudan’s First Vice President Ali Osman Taha accused Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni of seeking a regime change in Khartoum as part of his broader agendas to halt Arab advances in Africa.

Museveni on his end condemned recent reports of aerial bombardments by Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) inside South Sudan.

“Bashir must stop organizing aggression against the south. He should also deal with the agreements in the north,” Museveni said last month.

In a related issue the ICGLR summit is expected to discuss the possibility of sending a fact finding mission to Sudan to investigate events in Sudan’s border states of Blue Nile and South Kordofan.

Liberata Mulamula, executive secretary of the conference told reporters that the heads of state will assess the gravity of the allegations and make the final decision on the probe.

“It will depend on the leaders, if they find that the allegations warrant to make an investigation, they will take a position,” Mulamula said according to Xinhua.

An independent committee of the organization in November recommended that a fact finding mission be sent to Sudan.

“The committee pronounced itself and decided that they need to undertake a fact finding mission to Sudan so as to be able to verify these allegations,” she said.

A delegate from Sudan during the ongoing meeting requested that the committee’s report be stayed until Sudan is given chance to verify and respond to the allegations.

He said allegations should be treated as allegations until proven to be true or false.

The ministers agreed that Sudan’s concerns be registered noting that there is no contradiction with the proposed fact finding mission.

South Kordofan has been the scene of fighting since last June which followed gubernatorial elections in which incumbent Governor Ahmed Haroun was declared winner in his race against his SPLM-N candidate Abdel-Aziz al-Hilu, who was the deputy governor.

Last August a report from the UN’s Higher Commission for Human Rights said that abuses allegedly committed in South Kordofan may amount to “war crimes” and “crimes against humanity,” and must be fully investigated.

Khartoum dismissed the allegations and accused the world body of bias.

(ST)