Sudanses president Omar al-Bashir arrives in Ethiopia for summit
By Nangayi Guyson – Addis Ababa – Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir who is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for genocide in the western Sudanese region of Darfur arrived on Monday evening in the Ethiopian capital for a summit on Sudan and Somalia, an AFP journalist reported.
Bashir, arrived at the Sheraton hotel, the venue for the conference, surrounded by a large delegation.
He was indicted in March 2009 for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity, and in July 2010 on charges of genocide, relating to atrocities committed by Khartoum’s forces in Darfur.
However, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (Igad) summit will discuss the situation in Sudan ahead of January’s referendum on autonomy for the south as well as Somalia, officials of the six-member bloc said.
In late August the Sudanese president attended a ceremony in Kenya, which is a party to the ICC but no move was made to arrest him.
Prior to his Kenya trip, Bashir in July travelled to Chad, also an ICC state party, which did not act on the arrest warrant either.
Ethiopia is not a party to the ICC and is not therefore under any obligation to arrest Bashir.
