AU invites Al-Beshir for Darfur talks in Nigeria, says source.ABUJA: The African Union African Union (AU), international organization established in 2002 by the nations of the former Organization of African Unity (OAU). The AU is the successor organization to the OAU, with greater powers to promote African economic, social, and political integration, has invited Sudanese leader Omar Al-Beshir, who faces a global arrest warrant for war crimes, for next week's talks on the Darfur crisis in Abuja, a Nigerian government source said Thursday. Eighteen heads of state are expected for a summit of the peace and security organ of AU slated for next Thursday in the Nigerian capital. Al-Beshir, wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes and crimes against humanity, is "still considering the invitation, afraid we may turn him in, which will not happen," the source told AFP (1) (AppleTalk Filing Protocol) The file sharing protocol used in an AppleTalk network. In order for non-Apple networks to access data in an AppleShare server, their protocols must translate into the AFP language. See file sharing protocol. . "Hand him over to who when he is invited by the AU?" he added. The global rights campaign group, Amnesty International Amnesty International (AI,) human-rights organization founded in 1961 by Englishman Peter Benenson; it campaigns internationally against the detention of prisoners of conscience, for the fair trial of political prisoners, to abolish the death penalty and torture of wants Nigeria to arrest Al-Beshir and "hand him over to the ICC ICC See: International Chamber of Commerce should he enter Nigerian territory." Asked to confirm if the Sudanese president was invited, Nigerian Foreign Minister Ojo Maduekwe Chief Ojo Maduekwe is the current Foreign Minister of Nigeria. He was sworn into that position on July 26 2007 under President Umaru Yar'Adua.[1] He is National Secretary of the ruling political party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). said he was not going "to speculate on who is invited and who is not". Since the ICC issued an arrest warrant on Al-Beshir in March, he has been to seven countries -- Eritrea, Egypt, Libya, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia and Zimbabwe -- none of which are signatories to the ICC treaty. Amnesty said failure by Nigeria to arrest the Sudanese leader "is a failure to fulfill obligations under international law and may amount to obstruction of justice A criminal offense that involves interference, through words or actions, with the proper operations of a court or officers of the court. The integrity of the judicial system depends on the participants' acting honestly and without fear of reprisals. ." Former South African president Thabo Mbeki is expected to submit a report on the Darfur crisis. The United Nations says up to 300,000 people have died and 2.7 million fled their homes since ethnic minority rebels in the western region of Darfur first rose up against the Arab-dominated government in Khartoum in February 2003. The Sudanese government says 10,000 people have been killed. -AFP Daily NewsEgypt 2009 Provided by Syndigate.info an Albawaba.com company |
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