 |
| Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir |
A South African court has issued an interim order preventing
Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir from leaving the country. It says Mr Bashir will have to stay until the court hears an
application later on Sunday on whether he should be handed over to the
International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague.Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir is curently in Johannesburg for an African Union summit.
The ICC says Bashir has
two outstanding arrest warrants. He has been charged with war crimes and
genocide for sending the army and backing Arab militias to put down an armed
uprising in the Darfur conflict in 2003.
The United Nations says
fighting in the impoverished region has killed 300,000 people and created more
than 2 million refugees. Most of the victims were civilians.
ICC President Sidiki
Kaba said in a statement South Africa, which "has always contributed to
the strengthening of the Court," should "spare no effort in ensuring
the execution of the arrest warrants."
Analysts say while
South Africa is a signatory of the Rome Statute that established the ICC and is
obliged to arrest President Bashir, it is not likely the AU summit hosts will
detain the Sudanese leader. The AU has accused the ICC of unfairly
targeting African leaders.
Andrew Stroehlein, the
European media director of Human Rights Watch said on Twitter Sunday "how
many thousands of Africans can you kill before you're not welcome at (the)
African Union summit?"
Bashir was sworn in
earlier this month for another five-year presidential term.
He promised to fight
corruption, improve the economy and bring relations with the West back to what
he calls their "natural state."
He also vowed to bring
peace to three separate regions where armed groups are fighting to topple his
government -- Blue Nile, Darfur and Kordofan. The president repeated his
offer of total amnesty to any armed rebel who joins peace talks.
Bashir has ruled Sudan
for 25 years. The country has not only been battered by armed rebellion,
but by international sanctions and the loss of oil revenue when South Sudan
gained independence. (Source VOA)