KHARTOUM, February 18 - RAPSI, Yulia Troitskaya. The Sudanese government is not concerned about the request of the International Criminal Court to arrest President Omar al-Bashir during his visit to Chad and Libya, Undersecretary of the Sudanese Foreign Ministry Rahmatallah Mohamed Osman told journalists.
Al-Bashir attended the summit of the Community of Sahel-Saharan States (CEN-SAD) in Njamena, Chad. He is also likely to go to Libya for the second anniversary of the revolution which overthrew Muammar Gaddafi.
"The ICC's request is of no significance, because Sudan has never had anything to do with the court or its decisions," Rahmatallah Osman said.
On Friday, the ICC judges issued an order at the request of Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda reminding Chad of its obligations under the court's founding document "to execute the pending Court's decisions concerning the arrest and surrender of Omar Al-Bashir." The UK has supported this request.
The ICC issued warrants for the arrest of al-Bashir in 2009 and 2010. He is charged with ten counts of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide which he allegedly masterminded in Sudan's western region of Darfur, where rebel groups have been fighting government troops since 2003. However, African Union countries refused to heed the court's ruling. Al-Bashir has visited African members of the ICC many times since then.