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Sudan says receiving Kenyan confirmation to cancel decision on arresting President al-Bashir

02 December 2011 03:46 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Sudan on Thursday said it received confirmation from Kenya on working to cancel a ruling by a Kenyan court which orders the arrest of Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

Sudanese President al-Bashir on Thursday received in Khartoum Kenyan President’s envoy and Foreign Minister Moses Wetangula, in the wake of the tension between the two countries following the Kenyan court’s ruling and Khartoum’s reaction expelling the Kenyan Ambassador in Khartoum.

Sudan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Karti told reporters Thursday that "the Kenyan government has affirmed that it would work to cancel the decision. There are arrangements taken by the Kenyan government in this respect."

Karti said the meeting between al-Bashir and the envoy of the Kenyan president reviewed recent tensions between the two countries.

The Kenyan minister for his part told reporters that he delivered a message to the Sudanese president from his Kenyan counterpart Mwai Kibaki.

He said Kenya and Sudan were enjoying strong friendly relations and that the ties between the two countries would remain strong as both countries were members of the African Union, the Inter- Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), reiterating his country’ s commitment to the principles of the IGAD, the African Union and the COMESA.

The Sudanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday asked the Kenyan Ambassador in Khartoum to leave the country in 72 hours, in reaction to the ruling by a Kenyan court ordering the Kenyan government to arrest al-Bashir should he set foot on Kenyan soil.

A Kenyan court Monday issued an arrest warrant against Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, while news reports said that Judge Nicholas Ombija of Kenya’s Supreme Court ordered the arrest of al- Bashir in response to a recommendation by the Kenyan chapter of the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ).

Kenya is a signatory to the ICC Rome Statute which was established in 2002, but like many African countries, it refused to implement the ICC arrest warrant against al-Bashir.

In August 2010, the Sudanese president visited Kenya’s capital Nairobi to participate in the endorsement of Kenya’s new constitution despite the ICC warrant against him. At that time, Kenyan officials said their government was committed to the African Union resolutions in this respect.

Since the ICC arrest warrant against him in March 2009, al- Bashir has visited Chad, Malawi and Kenya.