Diplomatic embarrassment for Sudanese president at Doha conference

Diplomatic embarrassment for Sudanese president at Doha conference
December 11, 2011 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudanese president Omer Hassan al-Bashir was forced to skip the opening ceremony at a conference held in the Arab Gulf State of Qatar after several participants raised objections. Sudanese President Omer Hassan al-Bashir (AP) Bashir arrived in Doha on Saturday evening to lead Sudan’s delegation at the 4th United Nations Alliance of Civilization Forum (UNAOC). More than 2,000 participants, including political and corporate leaders, civil society activists and faith communities have gathered there to discuss how to improve relations across cultures, combat prejudice and build lasting peace. The Sudanese leader has routinely visited Qatar in defiance of two arrest warrants issued for him by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in 2009 and 2010 accusing him of involvement in war crimes allegedly committed in the restive Darfur region. Qatar is not a signatory to the court’s treaty and is therefore under no obligation to apprehend Bashir. But on Saturday it appeared that Bashir’s participation in UNAOC would spark controversy as the German president Christian Wulff threatened to boycott the conference if Bashir shows up. "Participation will be out of the question for me if reports are confirmed that Sudanese President Omer al-Bashir will attend," Wulff said in Oman’s capital Muscat yesterday during his official visit. In Doha, diplomatic sources told Deutsche Presse-Agentur (DPA) that several European nations as well as the United Nations Secretariat complained to Qatar about the invitation extended to Bashir. As a result Bashir was not present at the forum’s opening ceremony which was inaugurated by the wife of the Emir of Qatar instead of him as originally planned. The Sudanese foreign minister Ali Karti denied that his boss’s absence had anything to do with reservations expressed by other participants. Karti said that Bashir and the Emir of Qatar Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani were not present due to an “urgent matter” related to dialogue over bilateral issues but did not elaborate. Qatar’s official news agency (QNA) made no mention of any meeting that took place between the two leaders on Sunday. Al-Thani met today with several ######### of states participating in UNAOC including those of Albania, Mongolia and Macedonia as well as other senior officials from Australia, Spain and the UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon. Bashir had to cancel appearances at several regional and international summits for fear of arrest or threats of boycott by Western nations. (ST)