Sudan's president cancels UN trip

Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir, who is wanted for war crimes and genocide, on Wednesday cancelled a planned trip to the UN General Assembly, the UN said. Bashir's application for a visa had embarrased the US government and UN leadership. The UN gave no reason for the no-show however. "Protocole has now confirmed that Sudan has cancelled President Bashir's appearance at the General Assembly," a UN spokesman, Jerome Bernard, told AFP. Bashir had been scheduled to speak to world leaders on Thursday. The spokesman said that Sudan's Foreign Minister Ali Karti would now address the assembly on Friday. Under international accords, the United States would not have been able to refuse Bashir a visa. But it could have detained him on arrival. US authorities had refused to say whether they had accorded a visa or warned Bashir. The International Criminal Court had urged US authorities to arrest Bashir who is wanted by the The Hague court on 10 counts of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide in the Darfur conflict. The ICC issued arrest warrants for the Sudanese leader in March 2009 and July 2010. He has travelled to several African countries however since then. The United States is not party to the ICC's Rome Statute. But the court in 2010 asked all UN Security Council members that are not Rome Statute members, including the United States, to arrest Bashir. Source: AFP