KHARTOUM: Religious scholars have told Sudan’s president not to travel to an Arab summit in Qatar at the end of March, state media reported yesterday.
President Omar Bashir risks being detained if he leaves Sudan because the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for him earlier this month to face charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur.
The Sudanese government said shortly after the ICC decision that Bashir would defy the warrant by traveling to the Doha summit — and later confirmed the visit by formally accepting an invitation from the Qatari government.
But a series of senior Sudanese officials have released statements in recent days raising questions over the wisdom of the trip, prompting speculation that they were preparing the ground for a decision to send another representative instead.
The influential Sudan Ulema Authority issued a statement yesterday saying Bashir should not travel, the state Sudanese Media Center reported.
The government is not bound by rulings from the Ulema Authority, but the body of scholars is widely respected in the country and has real authority.
The statement said the authority advised Bashir that it was “impermissible for you to travel for this mission, which others can do in your place.”
“It is no secret to you that the enemy is lurking around you and your country and your religion,” it added, citing precedents from history where Islamic leaders and forces decided on caution as the best option in their campaigns.
The ICC chief prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, has warned in the past that any plane carrying Bashir in international airspace could be intercepted, but the court has no enforcement apparatus of its own.
