East African bloc rejects Kenyan El-Bashir arrest warrant - The Inter-government Authority on Development (IGAD) has criticized an arrest warrant issued against Sudanese President Omar El-Bashir, saying the courts should not complicate the search for peace in Darfur. IGAD Executive Secretary Maalim Mahboub said on Tuesday that the arrest of President El-Bashir would have adverse effects to peace and stability in the Sudan, which in effect could also affect the continued stability of Kenya.

“We are currently looking at the judgment and are aware that there is a right to appeal that is guaranteed and this decision may not stand. We would give comprehensive comments once we have studied this judgment holistically,” Mahboub said.

Kenyan High Court Judge Nicholas Ombija said the Attorney-General Githu Muigai and the Internal Security Minister George Saitoti should arrest President El-Bashir if he visits Kenya to avoid a violation of the relevant laws of Kenya.

“IGAD believes that solutions to these issues are not judicial but political in nature and should be approached with great sensitivity,” Mahboub said.

President El-Bashir is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for crimes against humanity and genocide, notably for crimes committed in Darfur.

The Judge said the Kenyan authorities were obliged to cooperate with the ICC at The Hague. The judhe said failure to cooperate would be a violation of the Rome Statute, creating the ICC and the relevant laws in Kenya.

The IGAD executive said the judge was operating in a vacuum and may have ignored key points, including the fact that peace in Sudan was critical.

“The arrest of President El Bashir would have adverse effects to peace and stability in the Sudan and this is virtually linked to Kenya’s continued peace and well-being,” the IGAD official said.

Sudan announced the breaking of diplomatic ties with Kenya hours after the Court decision, giving the Kenyan ambassador in Sudan a 72-hour notice to leave Sudan and recalled its acting ambassador to Kenya in protest.

Kenya’s assistant foreign minister, Richard Onyonka, said President Mwai Kibaki had written to President El-Bashir, explaining the arrest warrant’s issuance was not intentional.

“The President has sent a letter stating that he did not plan to seek the arrest of the Sudanese President,” Onyonka said.

Kenyan Foreign Minister Moses Wetangula, in Bujumbura to attend the East African Community (EAC) Summit, termed the arrest warrant “an error of judgment”.

“Government will do everything in its power to protect the fraternal relations with Sudan,” Wetangula said in a statement.

Sudanese authorities said the decision to issue the arrest warrant appeared linked to the wrangling within the Kenyan government.

“We think the decision is more likely associated with the internal Kenyan difference on dealing with the ICC than with the Sudanese affair,” Sudanese foreign affairs Spokesman Al-Obaid Ahmed Murawih, said.

Pana 29/11/2011