Bashir Skips AU-EU Summit over ICC Charges

Khartoum, Sudan

Sudan has been forced to withdraw from attending an African Union-European Union summit set to begin on Monday in Tripoli, Libya over President Omar Al-Bashir indictment on war crime charges by the International Criminal Court.

Libyan foreign minister Moussa Koussa said they have asked Bashir to skip the summit despite being invited; fearing his presence might ruin the tremendous efforts exerted by Libya in hosting the summit after the EU delegation had threatened not to attend if he showed up.

The Sudanese Presidency said in a statement on Sunday that it had decided to withdraw from the African-European summit at all levels following piling pressure from the EU. The statement accused the EU of undermining independence of the African Union, terming its position on Bashir’s participation in the summit as representative of the colonial mentality with which Europe still views Africa.

80 heads of state from both continents will be in attendance during the third AU-EU summit. Matters on investment development, peace and security cooperation between the two unions are expected to be discussed during the two-day convergence.

Political analysts have expressed concern on how Sudan might not benefit from the possible investments and support that the EU will pledge.

The 27-nation EU bloc strongly supports The Hague-based ICC where Bashir has been indicted for war crimes and genocide in Darfur Province, charges which he denies.

Over 300,000 people have died since 2003 when rebels from the Darfur region took up arms against the government, accusing it of oppressing the black Africans in favour of Arabs.

A report published last week by a coalition of African and European economic and political analysts says a return to civil war in Sudan would cost the country, and the entire international community more than $100bn over ten years, making the region a risky place for investments.

The on going voter registration for a referendum on south’s secession scheduled for January 9 has been extended for another week by the referendum commission after it had been delayed over technicalities.

The referendum marks the final phase in implementation of the 2005 Comprehensive Political Agreement (CPA) between the south and north that ended a two-decade long civil war.

Harare, Zimbabwe

Zuma Claims Success in Zimbabwe Mediation.

South African President Jacob Zuma has said he has aided in breaking the impasse between the two Zimbabwean coalition government principles during his last week’s visit to the country.

Zuma said the row between President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai had been solved following four hours of discussions. Zuma said they had both agreed there was a breakdown of communication amongst them and now have agreed to continue meeting. He was speaking during a press conference after holding talks with both leaders.

Zuma is the appointed mediator by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to shepherd the peace process in Zimbabwe to ensure the country’s political and economic crises are solved and the Global Political Agreement (GPA) is fully implemented.

Earlier on Thursday Tsvangirai filed a suit in court against President Mugabe’s unilateral appointment of regional governors, demanding them to be reversed. In his court papers, he believed Mugabe should have secured his agreement first over the appointments as laid down in the power-sharing deal.

Both leaders recently have been calling for fresh elections, with Mugabe saying that the coalition should not be renewed once its tenure expires in February.The country’s senate was recently adjourned to February next year following a disruption by members allied to Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party, protesting over Mugabe’s unprocedural appointments.

Under the GPA the inclusive government tasked to draft a new constitution but efforts have been hindered by failure to fully implement the accord and continuous political violence that have led to widespread violation of human rights.

Mugabe’s ZANU-PF entered into a coalition government with MDC in September 2008 after a disputed presidential election that saw the country fall into violence.

Mugabe and his party's inner circle continue to face unrelenting sanctions from the US and European Union over rights violations by the party.