Sudan’s Bashir pays rare visit to Uganda on Thursday
May 11, 2016 (KHARTOUM) – Sudanese President Omer al-Bashir would start a two-day visit to Kampala on Thursday to discuss bilateral ties and the situation in South Sudan with his Ugandan counterpart Yoweri Museveni.
An official at the Sudanese presidency told Sudan Tribune on condition of anonymity Wednesday that Bashir would travel to Kampala on Thursday in an official visit but he didn’t elaborate on the issue.
According to the official, Bashir would discuss with Museveni several joint issues and on top of which is the security issue.
The two countries have traded accusations of support to rebel groups from both sides. Khartoum accused Kampala of backing rebel groups from Darfur and the Two Areas while the latter accused the former of supporting the Lord Resistance Army (LRA).
The same source said that Bashir would be accompanied by the Foreign Minister Ibrahim Ghandour, the director of the security services, Mohamed Atta, the Minister of Presidential Affairs Fadl Abdallah Fadl and several other ministers.
Bashir is under two International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrants since 2008 for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes allegedly committed in Darfur.
The Sudanese president visited several African states members of the ICC but he was not arrested. However, the issue generated a large literature in the international law on Bashir’s immunity.
Uganda is a State Party to the Rome Statute and has an obligation to arrest the Sudanese president.
However, during a presidential debate last February, the Ugandan President vowed to pull of the ICC and described it as a “partisan” court, allegedly targeting Africans.
Established in 2002 to try war criminals and perpetrators of genocide never tried at home, the ICC has opened inquiries involving nine nations, including Kenya, Ivory Coast, Libya, Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, Uganda, Mali and, most recently, Georgia.
(ST)