KHARTOUM — Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, wanted by the
International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes, left on Wednesday
for the Arab League summit in Baghdad, official radio reported.
"Bashir left Khartoum for Baghdad, heading the country's delegation in the Arab League summit," state-run Radio Omdurman said.
Iraqi
President Jalal Talabani's office had announced on Sunday that Bashir
would attend the meeting, but until Wednesday's radio report there had
been no official comment about the trip within Sudan.
Iraq is not a signatory to the ICC's founding Rome Statute, according to a copy of the treaty posted on the UN's website.
The
Iraqi foreign ministry has said on its website that "the protection of
President al-Bashir is guaranteed one hundred percent," adding that the
same applied to all summit participants.
Thursday's meeting of
leaders from the 22-member Arab League is the first in the Iraqi capital
since now-executed dictator Saddam Hussein's 1990 invasion of Kuwait.
The
Hague-based ICC issued an arrest warrant for Bashir in 2009 for alleged
crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in Darfur, the
country's western region. A later warrant added genocide to the charges.
Bashir,
who has since made several visits abroad, especially to other African
states, leaves as diplomats from Sudan and South Sudan work to avert war
after border clashes this week sparked international fears of a wider
conflict.
Copyright © 2012 AFP. All rights reserved.
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