Sudanese President Travels to Libya
By VOA News
26 March 2009
Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has arrived in Libya, his third trip abroad this week in defiance of an international warrant for his arrest.
Earlier reports said the Sudanese president was headed for Ethiopia. But Arab media and officials in Libya and Sudan said Mr. Bashir instead went to Libya and is expected to meet with Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi.
Mr. Gadhafi, like other Arab and African leaders, has criticized the International Criminal Court for indicting Mr. Bashir on charges of war crimes in Darfur.
The Sudanese leader visited Eritrea on Monday and Egypt on Wednesday, meeting with the presidents of both countries.
ICC prosecutors accuse Mr. Bashir of orchestrating a campaign of rape, murder and other crimes against civilians in Darfur, where his government has been fighting rebels since 2003.
Mr. Bashir has dismissed the court as a tool of Western imperialism.
Meanwhile, Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown said he wants the whole world to demand that Sudan's president reverse the expulsion of 13 international aid groups from Darfur.
Mr. Brown told reporters at the United Nations Wednesday that it is very important that the world sends a message to Mr. Bashir that humanitarian agencies in Darfur are doing vital work.
Sudan's president expelled the groups just hours after the International Criminal Court issued the warrant for his arrest on March 4.
The ICC has called on all nations to arrest the President Bashir.
But Egypt's foreign minister, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, said Wednesday Egypt does not accept the way the court has dealt with Mr. Bashir. Egypt is not a signatory to the court.
The United Nations says the fighting and related violence in Darfur since 2003 has killed more than 200,000 people, and displaced more than 2.5 million others. Sudan says the death toll is around 10,000.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
