Sudanese president arrives in Darfur
EL FASHER, Sudan (AFP) — Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir, who faces a possible international arrest warrant for allegedly masterminding genocide in Darfur, arrived in the war-torn region Wednesday for a rare visit.
Wearing a suit, Beshir was greeted by a military honour guard at the airport in El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state, said an AFP photographer.
He smiled, laughed and shook hands with local dignitaries who greeted him at the start of a two-day visit to the region -- his first since July 2007.
International Criminal Court prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo last week accused Beshir of instructing his forces to annihilate three non-Arab groups in Darfur, masterminding murder, torture, pillaging and using rape to commit genocide.
The United Nations says that up to 300,000 people have died and more than 2.2 million have fled their homes since the conflict erupted in February 2003. Sudan says 10,000 have been killed.
The war began when African ethnic minority rebels took up arms against the Arab-dominated Khartoum regime and state-backed Arab militias, fighting for resources and power in one of the most remote and deprived places on earth.
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