Mar 24, 2009, 4:03 PM

Sudanese leader defies arrest warrant, visits Eritrea

Sudanese leader defies arrest warrant, visits Eritrea

Sudanese President Omar Hassan Al-Beshir visited Eritrea on Monday on his first foreign tour since he was indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes in Darfur, the Saudi Gazette reported.

Eritrean TV showed Al-Beshir arriving at the airport in the capital Asmara where he was greeted by his counterpart President Isaias Afewerki along with drummers and dancers.

Eritrean Information Minister Ali Abdu said that Al-Beshir was accompanied by his heads of security and intelligence and was there to discus regional security.

“The drama being orchestrated by the so-called ICC amply demonstrates the anti-people stance and defamatory conspiracy on the part of external forces,” the Eritrean government had said in its invitation.

“Eritrea sees the decision by the ICC as irresponsible and as an insult to the intelligence of African countries,” Abdu said. “It’s unjustifiable and illegal and illogical and futile, the so-called ICC decision.”

The Arab League and the African Union have both criticized the warrant as not helping to end the six-year-old Darfur conflict and called for the United Nations to exercise its right to defer it.

The Darfur conflict which started in 2003 when ethnic minority rebels took up arms against the Arab-dominated Khartoum government, complaining of discrimination and neglect, has killed more than 300,000 people with more others displaced.

PA/PA

END

MNA

News ID 32939

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