ABUJA (Reuters) - Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir
arrived in Nigeria on Sunday for an African Union
summit on HIV/AIDS as his hosts chose to ignore an
International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant
against him.
Bashir, accused of masterminding genocide and other
atrocities during Sudan's Darfur conflict, which has
left some 200,000 people dead, in theory risks arrest
if he travels to one of the more than 120 states
including Nigeria that have signed up to the ICC.
He has been refused trips to Uganda, South Africa,
Malawi and Zambia in the past because of his
indictment. This is his first trip to West Africa since
the warrant was issued.
The African Union (AU) voted in 2009 not to cooperate
with the ICC indictments, saying they would hamper
efforts to end Sudan's multiple conflicts. Bashir
rejects the ICC charges.
"The Sudanese president came for an AU event and
the AU has taken a position on the ICC arrest order, so
Nigeria has not taken action different from the AU
stand," presidential spokesman Reuben Abati said.
Human Rights Watch International Justice Program
director Elise Keppler said Nigeria had "the shameful
distinction of being the first West African country to
welcome ICC fugitive Sudanese President Sudan al-
Bashir".
"Al-Bashir is sought on the gravest crimes ... and
Nigeria's hosting is an affront to victims - he belongs
in custody," she said.
The main African Union summit this month had to be
moved to Ethiopia, which has not signed the ICC
statute, after Malawi, heavily dependent on Western
aid, refused to host Bashir.
Though initially welcomed by African leaders, the ICC
has been accused of exclusively targeting African war
criminals and failing to indict anyone from other
continents, a charge the ICC and its backers says is
unfair.
(Reporting by Tim Cocks, Camillus Eboh and Felix
Obuah; Editing by Kevin Liffey)

news.yahoo.com/sudans-bashir-arrives-nigeria-anger-rights-groups-183329772.html?.nx=count%3D5%26sortBy%3DhighestRated%26isNext%3Dtrue%26offset%3D10%26pageNumber%3D2

K