ICC part of agenda as Uhuru concludes Sudan visit

KHARTOUM

Sudan and Kenya held talks at the Republican Palace Sunday with the Sudanese side headed by President Omar al-Bashir and the Kenyan side led by President Uhuru Kenyatta.

Official sources said that recent developments surrounding decisions by some African countries to pull out of the International Criminal Court was part of the agenda.

Sudan’s Minister for Foreign Relations Prof Ibrahim Ghandour said the visit by President Kenyatta was a chance for the two states to exchange views and ideas and to invigorate their roles of contributing to the resolution of conflict and disputes in the region, particularly in South Sudan, Burundi, Congo and Central African Republic.

“The meeting is due to discuss the coercive unilateral sanctions imposed on the Sudan and on some African countries and how efforts could be coordinated among those countries to stave off these measures and work on their abrogation,” he said about the talks that were concluded on Sunday.

Burundi, Gambia and South Africa initiated the process of their withdrawal from the ICC, drawing criticism from human rights organizations internationally.

President al-Bashir is the court’s wanted list to face charges on allegations of involvement in the Darfur war.

State Minister at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Sudan, ambassador Kamal Eddin Ismail, pointed out in press statements that the two sides discussed “bilateral relations and issues of mutual concern” and that “the views of the two sides have been identical on the questions discussed”.

On her part, Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for Foreign Affairs Amina Mohamed who was part of President Uhuru’s delegation to Sudan expressed her hopes that the visit would achieve its objectives.

She described the visit as historic and one that showed the depth of the Sudanese-Kenyan relations.

According to her, the two sides discussed “bilateral relations, regional questions and the situation in some neighbouring states”.

A statement from President Kenyatta’s communication unit said the two leaders discussed the need to do more to stabilise South Sudan and Somalia and also agreed to expand trade and cooperation between their countries.

According to the statement, they also discussed the leadership of the African Union with President Bashir promising to back Ms Mohamed to lead the 54-member AU as Commission chief. ()