Sudan’s Bashir reportedly returns to Iran after takeoff on his way to China Article Comments (0) Email PrintSave --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
June 25, 2011 (KHARTOUM) – The meeting between Sudanese president Omer Hassan al-Bashir and his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao on Monday has been cancelled after his plane failed to arrive at the scheduled time, officials in Beijing told Agence France Presse (AFP). Sudanese president Omer Hassan al-Bashir boarding off plane in Tehran June 24, 2011 (FARS News Agency) Chinese foreign ministry staff told AFP that Bashir’s plane had been "delayed." Six hours after his scheduled arrival early Monday, they said they still had no updated information on when Bashir would land. "This afternoon’s activities have been cancelled," a ministry staff member said, referring to a scheduled late afternoon meeting with the Chinese leader. Bashir left the Iranian capital on Sunday heading to China after participating in a conference on combating terrorism. But sources in Khartoum told Sudan Tribune that the Sudanese president returned to Tehran after takeoff over concerns that the route would make him fly over countries that are members of the International Criminal Court (ICC). It is not clear yet whether he is still in Tehran or left for Beijing again. Bashir faces an ICC arrest warrant on ten counts of war crimes, crimes against and genocide he allegedly committed in Sudan’s western Darfur region, where about 300,000 people have died since 2003. His invite by Beijing has outraged human right groups who wanted China to withdraw the invitation or arrest him. But China said that it was "reasonable" to invite Bashir and noted it was not an ICC member even though it was the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) referred the situation in Darfur to the Hague tribunal. Bashir was due to stay in China — a key supporter of the regime in Khartoum — until Thursday. Staff at Sudan’s embassy in Beijing said they had no information on the matter. The ’Washington Post’ newspaper revealed this week that Bashir dispatched a trusted aide to China last April guarantees that he will not be arrested upon arriving. (ST) -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "JFD info" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/jfdinfo?hl=en.
