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Omar al-Bashir (right)
meets with South African President Jacob Zuma in Khartoum on January 31, 2015
©Ashraf Shazly (AFP)
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Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, who is wanted by the
International Criminal Court over war crimes charges, will travel to South
Africa for an African Union summit, official radio said Saturday.
Since Bashir was indicted
by the ICC in 2009 over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity during
the Darfur conflict, his overseas travel has been severely restricted.
"The president of
the republic is taking part in the African Union summit," Radio Omdurman
said.
"Now we are in the
presidential hall of Khartoum airport getting ready to depart," said Radio
Omdurman journalist Abdul Rafie al-Obeid, who was due to travel with the
delegation.
There had been
conflicting reports in local media over whether Bashir would travel.
Since Bashir was indicted
by the ICC in 2009, and again in 2010 on charges related to genocide, he has
mostly travelled to countries that have not joined the court.
The ICC relies on
signatories to its founding treaty to arrest indictees.
Darfur erupted into
conflict in 2003 when ethnic insurgents mounted a campaign against Bashir's
government, complaining their region was politically and economically marginalized.
More than 300,000 people
have been killed in the conflict and fighting has forced some 2.5 million
people to flee their homes, the United Nations says.
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