Host Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, who has rejected the ICC arrest warrant, met the Sudanese leader at the Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa Tuesday morning.
As the leaders of the two largest African countries drove out of the airport, security was tighter than ever before, with federal police officers chasing people off the streets.
Since the ICC indicted Al-Bashir for genocide and crimes against humanity, the trip to Addis Ababa is the latest in a series of well-orchestrated travels to countries that are not signatories to the Rome Statute creating the ICC.
The Sudanese leader had recently visited Eritrea, Egypt and Libya as well as attended an Arab league summit in Qatar, with a brief pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia.
The Arab League and the African Union (AU) have expressed their solidarity with the Sudanese President over the ICC’s arrest order.
“We will happily welcome Al-Bashir when he comes to Addis Ababa,” Prime Minister Meles had said last week.
During his visit, Al-Bashir is also expected to hold discussions with AU officials, sources at the government communications office told PANA.
In one of his first engagements on arrival in Addis Ababa, Al-Bashir - accompanied by Prime Minister Meles - went to one of the city’s exotic hotels, Sheraton Addis, to open the Ethio-Sudan joint commission high level talks that was last held in 2005.
The two countries are expected to discuss security issues as well as agricultural and energy projects at the Addis Ababa meeting.
Addis Ababa - 21/04/2009
Pana
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