Head of the National Congress Party. He came to power in 1989 when he, as a brigadier in the Sudanese army, led a group of officers in a bloodless military coup that ousted the government of Prime Minister Sadiq al-Mahdi and eventually appointed himself president-for-life. He has fallen out with his Islamic mentor, Hasan al-Turabi, tried to impose shariah on the Christian and animist south, resulting in its secessesion, and attempted to
ArabizeDarfur by unleashing the barbaric Janjaweed on it. Sudan's potential prosperity has been pissed away in warfare that has left as many as 400,000 people dead and 2.5 million displaced. Omar has been indicted for genocide by the International Criminal Court but nothing is expected to come of it.
, wanted by the International Criminal Court
... where Milosevich died of old age before being convicted ...
for war crimes, will attend this week's Arab summit in Storied Baghdad
...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate...
, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani's office said.
"President al-Bashir told President Talabani that he will head his country's delegation to attend the next Arab summit in Storied Baghdad this week," the presidency's website said after a phone call between the two leaders.
Iraq is not a signatory to the ICC's founding Rome Statute, according to a copy of the treaty posted on the U.N.'s website.
The foreign ministry has said on its website that "the protection of President al-Bashir is guaranteed one hundred percent," adding that the same goes for all summit attendees.
The Arab summit is due to be held in Storied Baghdad from Tuesday to Thursday.
It is the first time that the Iraqi capital has hosted a meeting of the 22-member Arab League
...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing...
since now-executed dictator Saddam Hussein's 1990 invasion of Kuwait.
The Hague-based ICC issued an arrest warrant for Bashir in 2009 for alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in Darfur. A later warrant added genocide to the charges.
Fat lot of good it's done, too... But we're not supposed to notice that.