Bashir forced to cancel travel plans
An outstanding ICC warrant for his arrest hasn’t prevented Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir from traveling over the last couple years. The globetrotting accused war criminal has visited countries including China, Chad, Qatar, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Kenya and Ethiopia since the court’s indictment was handed down. But it looks like he will have to cancel plans ...
An outstanding ICC warrant for his arrest hasn't prevented Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir from traveling over the last couple years. The globetrotting accused war criminal has visited countries including China, Chad, Qatar, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Kenya and Ethiopia since the court's indictment was handed down. But it looks like he will have to cancel plans to attend next month's AU summit in Malawi:
An outstanding ICC warrant for his arrest hasn’t prevented Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir from traveling over the last couple years. The globetrotting accused war criminal has visited countries including China, Chad, Qatar, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Kenya and Ethiopia since the court’s indictment was handed down. But it looks like he will have to cancel plans to attend next month’s AU summit in Malawi:
Malawi already angered international donors when it hosted Bashir last year. President Joyce Banda said last month that she had asked the AU to prevent him from attending the summit as another visit could have "implications" for the country’s economy.[…]
Khartoum asked the bloc that the summit – planned to run from July 9 to 16 – be held instead in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, home to the AU headquarters.
It said it had made the request following Malawi’s announcement that Bashir was not welcome at the summit "upon a claimed adherence of Malawi to its obligations to the so-called ‘International Criminal Court’".
It does seem like Banda, who took over in April after the death of the confrontational and notoriously corrupt Bingu wa Mutharika, has making all the right moves to stay on the good side of western donors, including repealing the country’s harsh laws against homosexuality earlier this month and discarding some of her predecessors lavish perks. It appears to be working. Britain announced it was releasing $51 million in aid, almost a year after suspending assistance to the country because of Mutharika’s mismanagement.
Joshua Keating was an associate editor at Foreign Policy. Twitter: @joshuakeating
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