Africa
Bashir in Qatar for Summit
Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani (right) welcomes Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir upon his arrival at Doha international airport March 29, 2009. Bashir arrived in the Gulf state of Qatar on Sunday, Al Jazeera television reported, as Arab leaders gathered for a summit set to discuss his indictment for war crimes. Photo/REUTERS
Posted Sunday, March 29 2009 at 19:51
DOHA, Sunday
Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir arrived in the Gulf state of Qatar today, Al Jazeera television reported, as Arab leaders gathered for a summit set to discuss his indictment for war crimes.
President Bashir has visited Egypt, Eritrea, Libya and Ethiopia in the weeks since the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued a warrant for his arrest and accused him of masterminding war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur.
Qatar, which hosts a key US military base, said last week it had faced unspecified pressure not to receive Bashir but it repeated an invitation for him to attend.
Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi today described the indictment of President Bashir as “First World terrorism”.
War crimes
“The ICC warrant to arrest President Bashir is an attempt by (the West) to recolonise their former colonies,” President Gaddafi, the current chairman of the African Union (AU), told reporters in the Ethiopian capital Addia Ababa.
“It is a practice of a First World terrorism. It is not fair that a sitting head of state should be arrested. That is why all Third World countries are opposing ICC’s warrant against President Bashir,” Col Gaddafi added.
The ICC issued an arrest warrant for President Bashir on March 4 on seven counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Darfur region of western Sudan, where international experts say more than 200,000 people have been killed since 2003.
Qatar is not one of the 108 states which are parties to the Rome statute which set up the International Criminal Court.
Even where a state is a party to the statute, the Hague-based court has no means of enforcing its warrants.
The African Union says that the warrant is likely to compromise attempts to make peace in Darfur and the 53-member organisation wants the indictment deferred.
Col Gaddafi said last month that “foreign forces” including Israel were behind the Darfur conflict and urged the court to stop proceedings against President Bashir.
The veteran Libyan leader says Africa can solve its own problems and has made a number of attempts to broker peace between Darfur rebels and the Khartoum government.
Might withdraw
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Submitted by sam7Posted March 30, 2009 06:18 PM
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Submitted by aggruy
The warant still remains Mr Al-Bashir, you do not murder your subjects and look for cheap support from supporters of terrorism realy stupid!!!! Behave yourself as you bring shame to Afrikans!!!
Posted March 30, 2009 01:20 PM -
Submitted by Hillaryio
The ICC should get serious and arrest this thug!
Posted March 30, 2009 11:08 AM -
Submitted by popq
This baffles the mind. How can the Africa Union defend an Arab terrorist who is killing Africans in the name of Arab superiority? Goes to show that most African presidents have no sense of pride and are traitors to their people. The silence that has accompanied this massacre of more than 1 million Africans while the Arabs protest everyday about thousands in Gaza show Arab hypocrisy. Africa needs to wake up to its abusive relationship with the Arab world.
Posted March 30, 2009 09:35 AM
RSS
This guy belongs to jail and its a shame that Kenya came out strongly against the arrest warrant. While the govt may not have wanted to engage with the international politics sorrounding the arrest, It should not have denounced the warrant. Wetangula should have kept quiet just like he has been quiet against the genocide in Darfur. Sometimes it makes me feel ashamed and embarassed to be an African for the positions taken by these African leaders.