Al Bashir expects to get US visa to attend UN General Assembly

*Sudan’s Omar Al-Bashir has applied for a US visa which will enable him attend the upcoming UN General Assembly in September 2016.

The news was confirmed by the information ministry and president Bashir’s press secretary.

“In fact, actually, the last time he applied for the visa, but it was not granted. But now he got an invitation, and we think he should be granted the visa because the United States is hosting the international organization and we have to attend the activities of this organization. We should not be prohibited for any reason,” Sudan Information Minister Ahmed Bilal, said.

Bashir’s last US visa request had not been granted and Sudanese officials say it will be unfair if the situation repeats itself especially as Bashir has received an invitation.

He attended the fifth inauguration of Museveni in Kampala last week during which Museveni insulted the ICC.

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The remark pushed the US delegation to walk out in protest.

“We believe that walking out in protest is an appropriate reaction to a head of state mocking efforts to ensure accountability for victims of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity, particularly when his country has committed to accountability as a state party to the Rome Statute,” Elizabeth Trudeau, spokesperson of the State Department said.

According to Sudan’s information minister Ahmed Bilal, the possibility of arresting Bashir in the US are slim because Omar al-Bashir’s visit will be on the ticket of the United Nations and Sudan does not recognise the authority of the ICC.

“Absolutely no because the USA is not a partner in the ICC; they didn’t sign, and they are not actually complying with the rules of the ICC. Like Sudan, we didn’t sign . It’s only the weak; it’s only the blacks who are being indicted,” Bilal argued.

Omar Al-Bashir’s has been indicted by the ICC for allegedly committing war crimes in the Darfur region where an estimated 300 thousand people were killed and about two million displaced.

The first warrant for arrest for Omar Hassan Al-Bashir was issued on March 4, 2009 while the second was issued on the 12th of July 2010. Bashir came to power in through a coup in 1989 and struggled with a civil war between the North and South.