KHARTOUM, Sudan | Sudan’s president traveled to Eritrea on Monday, choosing one of Africa’s most politically isolated nations for his first trip abroad since an international court sought his arrest on charges of war crimes in the Darfur region.
The one-day visit followed Eritrea’s official invitation to Sudan’s Lt. Gen. Omar Bashir, who faces the arrest warrant by the Netherlands-based International Criminal Court (ICC).
Eritrean television showed live coverage of Gen. Bashir being greeted at the airport in the capital, Asmara, by his counterpart, President Isaias Afwerki, along with drummers and dancers. Sudanese state television later Monday showed live images of Gen. Bashir returning to Khartoum.
Sudanese Foreign Minister Deng Alor said the visit was “important” and reflected Eritrean “solidarity … with Sudan against the ICC.”
Eritrean Information Minister Ali Abdu told the Associated Press that Gen. Bashir was accompanied by heads of security and intelligence and was there to discuss regional security.
The ICC charged Gen. Bashir on March 4 of leading a counterinsurgency against Darfur rebels that involved rapes, killings and other atrocities against civilians. His government has been accused of unleashing Arab militiamen known as janjaweed against Darfur civilians in a drive to put down a revolt by ethnic Africans in the region.
Up to 300,000 people have died and 2.7 million driven from their homes in the conflict since 2003, according to the United Nations.
Under the ICC charter, member states are bound to arrest those indicted when they enter their territory. Eritrea is not a signatory, however, and has vehemently condemned the indictment, making it a kind of safe haven for Gen. Bashir to visit.
“It’s unjustifiable and illegal and illogical and futile, the so-called ICC decision,” said Mr. Abdu. “We believe it’s an extension and symptom of the ongoing world hegemony and domination by a few powers in this world.”
The tiny Horn of Africa nation has itself come under harsh criticism from the U.S. State Department and international human rights groups for its human rights record.
The U.S. government has previously debated designating Eritrea a state sponsor of terrorism because of its support for hard-line Islamist insurgents in Somalia fighting a weak regime backed by the United States and the United Nations.
Gen. Bashir also is scheduled to attend the Arab League summit at the end of the month in the tiny Persian Gulf nation of Qatar. But there have been public calls in Sudan for him to stay home for fear he might be arrested.
The 22-member Arab League has publicly stated that Gen. Bashir would be welcome at Friday’s summit. Qatar is not signatory of the international court, and only a few Arab League countries are. The organization’s chief, Amr Moussa, said last week that member nations would not act on the arrest warrant.
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