South Africa Bans Sudan President From Leaving After Arrest Call

A South African court has issued a temporary ban on Sudanese
president Omar al-Bashir leaving the country after the International Criminal
Court called for him to be arrested at a summit in Johannesburg.

Bashir, who is wanted over alleged war crimes, 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 Pretoria High Court said in a statement it was
“compelling respondents to prevent president Omar Al-Bashir from leaving
the country until an order is made in this court”.

The hearing was set to take place later on today, the
opening day of the African Union summit.

The ruling came after the Southern African Litigation
Centre, a legal rights group, launched an urgent court application to force the
authorities to arrest Bashir.

State Minister for foreign affairs, Sudan, Kamal Ismail
insisted that Bashir’s visit to Johannesburg was proceeding normally and he
would return after its main meeting, despite the court order.

“It is difficult to give details of president Bashir’s
timetable, but he will return when the main session is over,” Kamal said
at a press conference.

The world is watching.