Khartoum: Sudanese President Omar Hassan Al Bashir arrived in Khartoum from Johannesburg yesterday, after a South African court ordered him not to leave as it decided whether to arrest him over alleged war crimes.
Bashir, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide in the Darfur region, was returning from an African Union summit.
Dressed in his traditional white robes, a triumphant Bashir was seen waving his trademark cane in the air as he stepped off the plane and shouted: “God is greatest!”.
He was greeted by his ministers on the tarmac as well as a crowd of journalists and photographers.
After his arrival, Foreign Minister Ibrahim Ghandour gave a brief news conference, brushing aside Bashir’s close call with international justice at the summit. “What was being circulated was propaganda, and his participation confirms the president is one of Africa’s leaders”.
Bashir will continue to attend international summits “as normal”, Ghandour added.
Ghandour also denied there was anything unusual about Bashir’s departure from the Waterkloof military air base outside Pretoria instead of from a normal airport.
“When we arrived, we landed at Johannesburg airport but all the African leaders’ planes left from a private airport,” he said.
AFP
