African nations unite to defend Sudan leader

Jul 4 2009 WalesOnline After bitter wrangling, Africa’s leaders agreed to denounce the International Criminal Court and refuse to extradite Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir, who has been indicted for crimes against humanity in Darfur. The decision at the African Union summit said AU members “shall not cooperate” with the court in The Hague “in the arrest and transfer of President Omar al-Bashir of the Sudan to the ICC”. Sudan welcomed the move, and other Africans said it was a signal to the West that it shouldn’t impose its ways on Africa. A human rights group said the decision was a gift to a dictator. The 13th AU summit of heads of state, which concluded yesterday in Sirte, Libya, also “expresses its preoccupation about the behaviour of the ICC prosecutor” Luis Moreno Ocampo, whom African... [read full story]                    

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