Sudanese president skips Turkey visit over ICC arrest warrant
For someone who says he is not concerned about his International Criminal Court arrest warrant for war crimes in Darfur, Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir is sure staying away from a lot of engagements. First, he didn’t make it to Jacob Zuma’s inauguration. Then he skipped an African Union meeting in Nigeria. And now he says he is pulling out of an Islamic summit in Turkey, after making a great show of going. The Turks had welcomed his attendance, saying they wouldn’t arrest him. But the EU, which Turkey hopes to join, wanted the invitation withdrawn. Nigeria and South Africa are both members of the ICC, and would have had to arrest him, despite the AU (of whom many other members are also ICC signatories) saying that they wouldn’t support this course of action. Al-Bashir was in Egypt last week taking part in a China-Africa summit. AU member Egypt is not an ICC member. It’s complex, ain’t it? Read more: BBC, Coalition for the International Criminal Court
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