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March 22, 2009

Sudan's Muslim Scholars Tell President to Stay Home
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Committee of Muslim Scholars says President Omar al-Bashir should stay
away from Arab summit in Qatar to avoid the enemies of the nation 
Sudan's highest religious authority has issued a ruling that President
Omar al-Bashir, who is targeted by an international arrest warrant,
should not attend an Arab summit in Qatar. In its fatwa (opinion), the
Committee of Muslim Scholars said the president should stay away from
the meeting to avoid the enemies of the nation. Sudanese President Omar
al-Bashir attends a graduation ceremony at an air force academy near
Khartoum (File)Mr. Bashir has insisted he will attend the March 30
summit in Doha despite the International Criminal Court's call for his
arrest, for alleged war crimes in Darfur. However, a Sudanese
presidential spokesman said Sunday that no final decision has been made
on whether Mr. Bashir will go. Qatar is not likely to arrest Mr. Bashir
because it is not a signatory to the Rome Statute, the founding text of
the International Criminal Court. Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the ICC's chief
prosecutor, told the BBC that Mr. Bashir only needs to enter
international air space for U.N. members to cooperate with the court's
arrest warrant. Sudanese officials say security precautions will be in
place if Mr. Bashir makes the trip. Hours after the issuance of the
warrant earlier this month, the Sudanese president ordered 13 foreign
aid groups out of Darfur. Moreno-Ocampo told the BBC that the expulsion
of the aid groups confirmed that President Bashir is, in the
prosecutor's words, "exterminating his people."Prosecutors at the ICC
accuse President Bashir of masterminding a campaign of rape, murder and
other crimes against civilians in Darfur, where his government has been
fighting rebels since 2003. The United Nations says the fighting and
related violence in Darfur has killed more than 200,000 people, and
displaced more than 2.5 million others. Sudan says the death toll is
around 10,000.Some information for this report was provided by Reuters.


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