Sudan leader thumbs his nose at ICC with trip

Independent:

Sudan's president Omar al-Bashir visited Eritrea yesterday in a cautious first step outside his country since a warrant for his arrest was issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) earlier this month.

If the move was calculated to show defiance of the international community, the choice of one of Africa's most isolated countries also communicated the unease in Khartoum over the outstanding warrant.

The visit, ostensibly to discuss regional security, was also a means of gauging Mr Bashir's support outside Sudan ahead of a much higher profile expected trip later this month to the Arab summit in Qatar, diplomats said.

Fouad Hikmat, an analyst from the International Crisis Group in Nairobi, said: "This is like an internal trip for him, just to show the ICC, 'look I can travel' because no one is going to say anything to Eritrea. The real question is whether he will be able to cross international air space to visit Qatar."

On Sunday, Sudan's highest religious authority issued a warning to Mr Bashir not to travel to Qatar. The Committee for Islamic Scholars cited threats from enemies outside the country in advising him to skip the annual summit. The ICC chief prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo has called for Mr Bashir's arrest as soon as he enters international airspace.

...

How does one make an air space arrest? As for the trip to Eritrea, it has to be near the bottom of most peoples' must see places. In fact an ICC trial might be a step up. If Bashir does go to Qatar it will be a real test of the Arab country's commitment to the ICC.

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