July 18, 2009 (WASHINGTON) — The Sudanese government wants Uganda to sack one of its ministers over remarks relating to the possibility of arresting president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir who faces an outstanding arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
This week Uganda announced that Bashir would delegate another official to attend the Smart Partnership conference in Kampala on July 26 despite being invited.
The arrangement follows an agreement between Sudan and Uganda, which is a state party to the ICC Statute but at the same time agreed to the African Union (AU) summit resolution, which instructs its members not to cooperate with the court in arresting Bashir.
Over the last week Ugandan official have been going back and forth on whether or not they will honor their obligations under the Rome Statute to apprehend the Sudanese head of state if he visits.
The controversy was triggered when the Ugandan State Minister for International Affairs Henry Oryem Okello told reporters last week that the arrest warrant could be executed if Bashir visits.
The minister’s statements drew angry response from Khartoum which accused Kampala of reneging on its commitment under the AU resolution.
The Ugandan president Yoweri Musievini reportedly apologized to Bashir over remarks made by his cabinet minister saying it does not represent his government’s position.
An unidentified senior Sudanese official told the pro-government Sudanese Media Center (SMC) website that his country will not accept the apology unless Okello is fired.
“The government still sticks to its conviction that Uganda’s positions are fluctuating and cannot be trusted in its current form despite the apology over the minister’s remarks on the visit of president Bashir to Kampala,” the official said.
The official said however that Khartoum may rethink its position if Okello is removed stressing that under the political norms a minister who expresses a view publicly that is different from that of his government then he is to be ousted.
He added that if that does not take place then Khartoum will hold to its belief that Uganda is under pressure from the ICC prosecutor and Western countries.
Today the deputy Sudanese foreign minister Al-Samani Al-Wasila told the official news agency (SUNA) said that the embassy in Kampala had received written assurances that Uganda would not arrest Bashir.
However, Al-Wasila accused unspecified parties of seeking to circumvent the AU resolution adding that no country voiced objection during deliberations on the draft text relating to the ICC.
He revealed that he met with a Botswanaian minister at the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit in Egypt who assured him that her government is committed to the AU decision halting non-cooperation with the ICC.
This month the Vice President of Botswana Mompati Merafhe accused Libya of forcing its members to accept the resolution ICC without debate.
Merafhe affirmed his government’s commitment to the Rome Statute making it, along with Chad, the only two countries to distance themselves from the AU decision.
(ST)
حركة العدل و المساواة السودانية
موقع متخصص بنقل آخر الأخبار و البيانات و القرارات لحركة العدل و المساواة السودانية