S/Africa Stops Al-Bashir From Leaving After Arrest Call:

South African authorities have stopped Sudanese President, Omar al-Bashir from leaving the country after the International Criminal Court (ICC) called for his arrest at a summit in Johannesburg.

Bashir, who is wanted for alleged war crimes against humanity and genocide in the Darfur conflict, mostly travels to countries that have not joined the ICC, but South Africa is a signatory of the court’s statutes.

The South African judge ruling was the first time any court has prevented a head of state from leaving a country following a request by the ICC, but Khartoum remained defiant, insisting Bashir would return home.

Judge Hans Fabricius said in his ruling said that “President Omar al-Bashir of Sudan is prohibited from leaving the Republic of South Africa until the final order is made in this application.”

“The respondents are directed to take all necessary steps to prevent him from doing so,” he said.

The ICC said in a statement from its headquarters in The Hague that it “calls on South Africa… to spare no effort in ensuring the execution of the arrest warrants” against Bashir.

It said South African diplomats had been pressed last month to arrest Bashir if he attended the summit, but that they replied that they faced competing obligations over the issue.

The Southern African Litigation Centre, a legal rights group, had launched an urgent application in the Pretoria High Court to force authorities to arrest Bashir on the opening day of the African Union summit.

In Khartoum, Sudan’s State Minister for Foreign Affairs, Kamal Ismail said Bashir would return home after the main session of the summit.

“Until now, things are normal and there is no risk to His Excellency the president,” he said at a news conference.

Sudanese foreign minister, Ibrahim Ghandour told AFP that the ICC is a court that is targeting African leaders instead of facing other continents.

“President Bashir is a leading president, a member of the summit of the African Union and will continue attending the summits wherever they are being held inside Africa,” he said.

The ICC indictments relate to the western Sudanese region of Darfur which erupted into conflict in 2003 when ethnic insurgents launched a campaign against Bashir’s Arab-dominated government, complaining of marginalisation.

The United Nations said that 300,000 people have been killed in the conflict and another 2.5 million forced to flee their homes.

Khartoum, however, disputes the figures, estimating the death toll at no more than 10,000.

Legal luminaries also reacted over the ICC arrest warrant of the Sudanese leader saying South Africa has an obligation to arrest al-Bashir.

Johannesburg-based rights lawyer, Gabriel Shumba said that failure to arrest al-Bashir will put them in the same bracket as other African regimes who have no respect for human rights.

“As a member of the International Criminal Court, (South Africa) has committed to cooperate with that court.”

Elise Keppler of Human Rights Watch told the ENCA news channel.

“This is an incredible moment for South Africa to do the right thing and to render al-Bashir to the International Criminal Court,” he said.