VICTORIA FALLS – Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir yesterday denounced moves to prosecute him for war crimes as an ‘infringement’ on his country’s sovereignty, at a trade summit in Zimbabwe.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued an arrest warrant for Bashir on war crimes and crimes against humanity in his country’s Darfur region.
‘Such a move ushers a new era of domination and infringement upon the independence and sovereignty of Sudan,’ he told a summit of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) in the Zimbabwean resort town of Victoria Falls.
He called the charges a ‘falsity’ aimed at breaking apart his country.
‘Powers hostile to Sudan, sparing no effort to undermine the security and stability of the country, have now come up with a new falsity – the move by the ICC against the president of the Sudan,’ he said.
‘It is an action aiming at isolating Sudan from its regional sphere as a prelude to fragmenting the country,’ he added.
Despite the warrant against him, Zimbabwe says it has no duty to arrest Bashir as it is not party to the treaty that set up the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Bashir has travelled to other countries without treaty obligations to the court and tried to rally support around the continent for a suspension of the warrant.
In its final communique, the Comesa summit backed the proposal of suspending the warrant, which critics say threatens peace efforts within Sudan.
The summit leaders ‘expressed concern on the International Criminal Court indictment against his excellency Omar al-Bechir, president of the republic of Sudan, and endorsed the position of the African Union Peace and Security Council for the United Nations to urge the ICC to suspend the indictment,’ it said.
– Nampa-AFP
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