ADDIS ABABA – Ethiopia’s dictatorial regime will disregard the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant against Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir for war crimes in Darfur, the government chief propagandist Bereket Simon said on Wednesday.
Bereket said his regime supported the African Union’s call to have proceedings against Bashir deferred.
“We have always upheld that position and we have promoted the decision of deferring this indictment from the start,” Bereket said.
The AU, headquartered in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, said the arrest warrant threatened peace efforts in Sudan.
Asked whether Ethiopia, Sudan’s southern neighbour, would ignore the warrant if Beshir visited, Bereket said: “Absolutely.”
AU opens emergency talks on Bashir warrant
ADDIS ABABA (AFP) – The African Union opened an emergency meeting over the arrest warrant on Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir which it says will hurt an ailing peace process in the troubled country.
The bloc’s Peace and Security Council members began the closed door meeting at its Addis Ababa headquarters a day after the International Criminal Court issued the warrants.
The 53-member body had called for the deferment of the court’s action against Beshir and on Wednesday expressed concern at the decision to issue the warrant.
In a statement, the AU Commission chief Jean Ping said he was “deeply concerned at the far-reaching consequences of this decision, which comes at a critical juncture in the process to promote lating peace… in the Sudan.”
Meanwhile in Khartoum Bashir joined a mass rally in protest at the international arrest warrant, an AFP correspondent said.
More than 5,000 people attended the rally in Khartoum’s Martyrs Square shouting support for Sudan’s veteran leader and denouncing ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo.
The rally followed a similar show of support on Wednesday for Beshir, who is accused by the International Criminal Court of masterminding a campaign of extermination, rape and pillage during the six-year conflict in Darfur.
Kharoum has vowed not to cooperate with court and received backing from its southern neighbour Ethiopia which said it would disregard the warrant.
China called Thursday for the case against Beshir to be suspended, as it expressed concern over the arrest warrant.
The reaction to the historic warrant issued on Wednesday for alleged war crimes was in line with China’s longtime support for Beshir’s government that has drawn much criticism in the West.
“China expresses its regretfulness and worry over the arrest warrant for the Sudan president issued by the International Criminal Court,” foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang said.
Qin called on the UN Security Council to “respect calls by the African Union, Arab League and Non-Aligned Movement… and urged the International Criminal Court not to hear this case for the time being.”
Beshir, 65, became the first sitting president to be issued with an ICC arrest warrant and faces five counts of crimes against humanity and two of war crimes.
The UN says up to 300,000 people have died and displaced some 2.5 million from their villages since the Darfur conflict broke out in February 2003. The Sudanese government puts the death toll at 10,000.