Sudanese president will “soon” travel to Nigeria: ambassador
July 10, 2013, (WASHINGTON) – The Sudanese president Omer Hassan al-Bashir will “soon” head to Nigeria for talks with officials there, an envoy said.
He noted the recent visit by Sudanese foreign minister Ali Karti to Abuja in which he handed over a letter from Bashir to the Nigerian president Goodluck Jonathan regarding bilateral relations and met with his counterpart Olugbenga Ashiru to discuss areas of cooperation particularly in the field of investments.
Karti and Ashiru also agreed to hold the joint Sudanese-Nigeria ministerial committee meeting next November in Khartoum.
If Bashir’s visit to Nigeria materialises it will be the latest trip to a country which has signed up to the Rome Statute – the founding treaty of the International Criminal Court (ICC).
He stands accused of war crimes in Sudan’s western region of Darfur and arrest warrants have been issued for him by the ICC forcing him to turn down invitations from Rome Statute signatories.
The Sudanese leader has snubbed an African Union Peace and Security Council (AUPSC) meeting that was called for in order to discuss a report of the AU Panel on Darfur led by former South African president Thabo Mbeki.
At the time the Nigerian government made it clear that it has no intention of arresting him despite the outstanding warrant.
“Hand him over to who when he is invited by the AU?” an anonymous government source in Nigeria told Agence France Presse (AFP).
But later some sources suggested that despite the invite, Abuja quietly asked Khartoum to send another official in Bashir’s place.
Nonetheless several ICC members in Africa have rolled the red carpet for Bashir including Chad (four times) and one visit each to Kenya, Djibouti and Malawi.
In several resolutions over the last few years, the AU instructed its members not to comply with the ICC orders with regards to Bashir and vowed to shield any members receiving him from international condemnation.
(ST)