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| Africa Horn |
| Uganda cautions al-Bashir over Kampala trip |
| 2009-07-17 |
| [Mail and Globe] Uganda on Wednesday warned that a visit by Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir could cause a "diplomatic incident" amid pressure on the country to arrest the leader wanted for war crimes. "We wish to avoid a possible diplomatic incident that may arise as a result of a visit by President al-Bashir," East Africa and Regional Affairs Minister Isaac Musumba said in a statement to Parliament. "The government is therefore diplomatically engaging the government of the Sudan with a view to ensuring that, while the invitation to President al-Bashir still stands, a possible diplomatic incident is avoided." Uganda had previously invited al-Bashir, wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity, to visit at the end of this month. Sudan's envoy in Kampala told local media that al-Bashir was considering the invitation. But the prospects of the visit, which would be al-Bashir's first to a country party to the ICC since the warrant was issued in March, were complicated by ICC chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo's visit to Kampala this week. Ocampo told reporters that Uganda has a legal obligation to arrest al-Bashir. Deputy Foreign Minister Okello Oryem was on Monday non-committal about how Uganda would respond if al-Bashir came, saying it was up to the head of the Uganda police force to take action. Ocampo also met with Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni on Monday. |
| Posted by:Fred |