The Sudanese president Omer al-Bashir has been received by senior government officials and hundreds of supporters upon his return from South Africa on Monday evening where he participated in the 25th African Union summit.
Bashir left South Africa few hours before judges at the High Court handed down a decision ordering his arrest.
He arrived in Pertoria Saturday, defying two arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) against him for war crimes and genocide in Darfur region in March 2009 and July 2010.
Technical problems prevented the Sudanese president from addressing the large crowd who held a casket in which they wrote “taking the International Criminal Court to its final resting place”.
Sudan’s foreign minister, Ibrahim Ghandour, said in a press conference at the airport upon Bashir’s arrival that Sudan’s participation the summit could have taken place normally and without noise were it not for those whom he called “enemies of Africa and Sudan” who sought to turn it into a “drama” to prevent the president from attending the summit.
He said their insistence on Bashir’s participation in the summit was due to benefits expected from it, noting they were aware of the uproar which accompanied the president’s trip to South Africa.
“We knew it was nothing but media hype, an attempt to block the sunlight”, he said
“Bashir followed this [media hype] with astonishment while he followed the other things [court proceedings] with coolness”, Ghandour added
Ghandour pointed that Bashir’s participation in the summit confirmed the fact that he is the “star of Africa’s leaders”, saying the way he was received by the African presidents and ministers proves that Africa pays special recognition to him and to Sudan.
He emphasized that Bashir would continue to participate in African Union’s summits.
The Sudanese top diplomat said that Sudan would take a firm stand against any country which issues a statement supporting the arrest of Bashir, noting that Sudan is a sovereign nation and Bashir is an elected president.
Ghandour stressed the summit decided to send a delegation comprised of six people to the UN Security Council (UNSC) in order to implement the African Union resolution to cancel the referral of the Sudan and Kenya cases to the ICC.
“The ICC’s [powers] has been eliminated following refusal of all African countries to implement its rulings”, he stressed
He described the take off of Bashir’s plane from Waterkloof military base in Peritoria as “normal”, saying all planes carrying the African leaders have been transferred to private airports after they landed in Johannesburg airport.
Ghandour praised the stance of the South African government and its president Jackob Zuma who refused to carry out the ICC arrest warrant against Bashir and said he is a dear guest and they are proud of his participation.
He said that South Africa’s foreign minister told them they made sure of their legal position 12 days before the commence of the summit, saying they published in their official gazette that all African leaders participating in the summit are under the protection of the state of South Africa.
Meanwhile, the governor of Khartoum, Abdel-Rahim Mohamed Hussein, said the African leaders have proven that the ICC doesn’t mean anything to them, describing as a “fatal blow” to the court which he said was set up to “humiliate the Africans”.
“The Africans have proven that they don’t accept any humiliation inflicted on any African president”, he said.
He said that Bashir’s participation in the summit was meant to show that the ICC doesn’t mean anything to Africa.
It should be recalled that Hussein is also wanted by the ICC on 13 charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity allegedly committed in Sudan’s western region Darfur.
The former vice president, Ali Osman Mohamed Taha, said what happened to the president in South Africa shows the authenticity of the Sudanese leadership and the status of Sudan in African.
He added the incident has strengthened cohesion and feelings besides the humanitarian, intellectual and political links among Africans, saying the stance of Sudan and its president represents a symbol for defying attempts to curb Africa’s movement towards the future.
