AU Not To Co-operate With ICC in Apprehending Bashir

26 July 2010 - (Khartoum) – The AU delegates at the Kampala summit have reiterated their call for the suspension of the arrest warrant of President Omar al Bashir on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity in Darfur.

The AU delegates agreed to remove language from the draft resolution that instructs its members not to co-operate with the International Criminal Court in apprehending President al-Bashir.

Sudanese political analyst, Professor El-Tayib Zain al-Abdin says that the new amendment in the AU draft resolution is a compromise.

[El-Tayib Zain al-Abdin]: “Yes, in fact there are about 30 African countries who are members in the ICC. Sudan in the beginning wanted all these countries to withdraw from the ICC, but these countries have their own interests and they cannot be instructed by Sudan to withdraw. Even smaller countries like Comoro and Djibouti which have good working relations with Sudan didn’t respond to Sudan’s appeal. Now cooperating with the ICC has been narrowed to not arresting President al-Bashir only, meaning that if the ICC wants other suspects like they did to Ahmed Haroun and Ali Kosheyb, the African countries can co-operate with the ICC to apprehend them and hand them to the ICC. It is kind of a settlement between the countries which are supporting Sudan’s position and the others which are opposed and have a legal responsibility towards the ICC. So it is a middle ground between the two parties.”

That was Professor El-Tayib Zain al-Abdin, speaking to SRS from Khartoum.