scheduled to fly to Nigeria on Sunday to attend a
summit on HIV/AIDS that is set to start on Monday,
an official in Khartoum announced.
Qatar news agency (QNA) reported that the Sudanese
ambassador Taj El-Sir Mahjoub told the state Sudan
radio that Bashir will also meet a number of African
leaders on the sidelines of the summit to discuss
bilateral cooperation and ways to further boost
coordination in regional and international issues.
The Sudanese president will also brief his
counterparts on the developments regarding the
peace process between Khartoum and Juba, he
added.
The al-Youm al-Tali newspaper reported in its Friday
edition that Bashir will be accompanied by the
ministers of health, foreign affairs and presidential
affairs.
The visit will be the newest venture of defiance by the
Sudanese leader who is wanted by the International
Criminal Court (ICC) on charges of war crimes,
genocide and crimes against humanity allegedly
committed in Darfur.
Nigeria as a state party to the founding treaty of the
ICC has a theoretical obligation to apprehend Bashir
should he set foot on its territories.
Since the issuance of the warrant in 2009, several
ICC members in Africa allowed Bashir to visit
including Chad, Kenya, Malawi and Djibouti.
These states assert that they are simply adhering to
African Union (AU) resolutions instructing them not
to comply with the warrants against Bashir.
But some states in Africa such as South Africa,
Uganda and Botswana have warned Bashir not to
visit so as not to risk arrest.
Even countries such as Kenya and Malawi, which
have received Bashir once, declined to do so again
following domestic and international pressure.
In late 2011, a Kenyan judge issues an arrest warrant
ordering the government to arrest him if he flies into
the country again. Nairobi has appealed the ruling
which has yet to be decided.
The Sudanese leader has snubbed an African Union
Peace and Security Council (AUPSC) meeting in
Abuja that was called for in order to discuss a report
of the AU Panel on Darfur led by former South
African president Thabo Mbeki.
At the time the Nigerian government made it clear
that it has no intention of arresting him despite the
outstanding warrant.
"Hand him over to who when he is invited by the
AU?" an anonymous government source in Nigeria
told Agence France Presse (AFP).
But later some sources suggested that despite the
invite, Abuja quietly asked Khartoum to send
another official in Bashir's place.
'SIDE WITH VICTIMS'
Reports of Bashir's planned trip to Nigeria drew
rebuke from Human Rights Watch (HRW) and the
Coalition for the International Criminal Court (CICC).
"Al-Bashir is a fugitive charged with heinous crimes
committed in Darfur and he belongs in custody.
Many other African states have made clear he will not
be welcomed or avoided his visits, including South
Africa, Malawi, Zambia, and Uganda. Nigeria should
side with victims and arrest or bar entry to al-Bashir"
said Elise Keppler, a senior justice counsel at HRW in
a statement sent to Sudan Tribune.
"Nigeria should not welcome ICC fugitive Sudanese
president al-Bashir. It should stand with victims and
arrest al-Bashir or bar him entry to Nigeria," she
added.
CICC also echoed the same position by that of HRW.
"Permitting President Al-Bashir to visit its territory
without arresting him would constitute a failure of
Nigeria to meet its obligations under the Rome
Statute of the ICC," said Stephen Lamony, senior
adviser for the Coalition for the ICC.
"If Nigeria and other members of the ICC are
committed to ending impunity, they must not allow
ICC arrest warrants to go unenforced, and at the very
least must not accept visits from suspects like Al-
Bashir," he added.
Nigerian officials said they expect more than 30
heads of states to attend the summit.
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