Sudan’s Bashir invited to attend the launch of global solar federation in Paris:FM

November 30, 2015 (KHARTOUM) -Sudan’s foreign ministry said that President Omer al-Bashir has received a joint invitation from France and India to participate in an event on the sidelines of the Paris Climate Change Conference.

Sudan’s foreign ministry spokesperson Ali al-Sadiq said that Bashir received a joint invitation from the French President François Hollande and the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to attend the inauguration of the International Federation of Solar Energy (IFSE) on the sidelines of the climate conference in Paris.

He pointed in a statement Monday that Sudan’s participation in the event would allow it to become a founding member of the IFSE which is considered a global forum for achieving the sustainable development goals through providing safe and clean energy.

Last February, the Indian government launched an initiative to create a new international federation, bringing together the 50 countries with the greatest potential for harnessing solar power.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued two arrest warrants for Bashir in 2009 and 2010 charging him with war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity in Sudan’s western region of Darfur.

Since then he hasn’t visited any European country or the United States but travelled to several African and Asian states some of whom are members of the ICC.

His attendance at the African Union (AU) in South Africa last June created a diplomatic and legal mess for the South African government which not only violated the ICC obligations, but also an explicit order by the High Court to prevent the Sudanese leader from departing pending a decision on whether to extradite him to the Hague.

The Sudanese leader fled the country hours before the High Court ordered his arrest and the South African government told the judges that he sneaked out without their knowledge.

(ST)