Sudan’s Bashir invited to visit Mali and Guinea-Bissau

August 29, 2016 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudanese President Omer al-Bashir on Monday received an invitation from his Malian counterpart, Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta to attend the summit meeting of La Francophonie in the capital, Bamako next January.

On Monday, al-Bashir has received Mali’s Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop who handed him a written message from Keïta pertaining to bilateral ties between the two countries and ways to promote and enhance relations.

In his message, President Keïta has also invited al-Bashir to attend the summit meeting of La Francophonie in Bamako next January.

Meanwhile, President of Guinea-Bissau José Mário Vaz on Monday has concluded a two-day visit to Khartoum where he met with al-Bashir and senior government officials.

Sudan’s State Minister of Foreign Affairs Kamal Ismail told the official news agency (SUNA) that Mário Vaz has discusses with al-Bashir bilateral relations between the two countries besides a number of regional and international issues.

Ismail pointed the visiting president expressed appreciation for the Sudanese leadership, saying he demanded Sudan to assist his country in the economic and agricultural domains.

According to Ismail, Mário Vaz also called for the need to open a Sudanese embassy in Guinea-Bissau and to continue economic, political, cultural, education and training cooperation between the two countries.

The Sudanese minister added that al-Bashir agreed to provide Guinea-Bissau with all needed assistance, saying the latter accepted an invitation by Mário Vaz to visit Guinea-Bissau and promised to carry it out soon.

Al-Bashir is under two International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrants since 2008 for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes allegedly committed in Darfur.

Mali has ratified the Rome Statute of the ICC on 16 August 2000 and therefore has an obligation to arrest al-Bashir.

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.

His June 2015 visit to South Africa for an African Union summit stirred up a domestic controversy after the government there refused to arrest him and ignored a High Court order barring his departure. He managed to escape hours before the court ordered his apprehension.

(ST)