TRIPOLI: Sudanese President Omar Bashir defied an international arrest warrant by traveling to Libya yesterday for talks with leader Muammar Qaddafi, Libya’s government said.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued the warrant against Bashir this month, charging him with war crimes in Darfur in western Sudan.
Experts say at least 200,000 people have been killed and more than 2.7 million driven from their homes in almost six years of ethnic and political fighting in Darfur. Khartoum says 10,000 people have died.
Qaddafi said last month that “foreign forces” including Israel were stoking the Darfur conflict and urged the ICC to stop proceedings against Bashir.
Bashir, flanked by a delegation including Sudan’s foreign and industry ministers, met Qaddafi over lunch and thanked the Libyan leader for his staunch support, the official news agency JANA said.
The two leaders discussed ways to address the humanitarian situation in Darfur and Sudan’s relations with Chad. They agreed to focus on a “social solution” for Darfur and work toward a free and fair referendum for its population, JANA added.
ICC chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo said Bashir’s trips to neighboring countries was a sign of desperation. “It seems to me that Bashir’s trips are nothing more than a sign of desperation rather than a challenge to the ICC,” Moreno- Ocampo said.
