1st LD Writethru: Sudan's al-Bashir returns to Khartoum after AU summit in S. Africa amid ICC arrest warrant controversy

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir returned to Khartoum on Monday after he attended an African Union (AU) summit in South Africa, where a court issued an order to stop him from leaving the country on an arrest warrant against the Sudanese leader by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Hundreds of Sudanese citizens gathered at the yard of Khartoum airport to receive the Sudanese leader, who was also received by First Vice President Bakri Hassan Saleh and a number of senior government officials.

The Sudanese president arrived in South Africa on Saturday to attend the 25th AU summit in Johannesburg, but his trip has sparked a controversy as South Africa is an ICC signatory. The Hague-based court, which issued an arrest warrant against him for allegedly committing war crimes in Sudan's Darfur region in March 2009, urged South Africa to arrest al-Bashir upon his arrival.

On Sunday, a judge at a Pretoria High Court issued an order and decided that the South African government should take steps to prevent the Sudanese leader from leaving the country. Judge Hans Fabricius said al-Bashir should not leave the country until an urgent application to have him arrested has been heard.

Both the ICC and South African human rights groups piled pressure on the government to arrest al-Bashir at the summit.

The African National Congress, South Africa's ruling party, said the government has granted immunity for all summit participants according to the international norms for nations to host gatherings like the AU summit.

The party also asked the South African government to challenge the order issued to compel it to arrest President al-Bashir.

As the president returned, the Sudanese government accused what it termed as "enemies of Africa and Sudan" of masterminding a failed attempt to arrest Bashir in South Africa.

"The participation could have been normal and without clamor, but the enemies of Africa and the enemies of Sudan wanted otherwise and tried to make of it (the participation) a drama to prevent the president from important participations", Ibrahim Ghandour, Sudan's Foreign Minister, told reporters at Khartoum airport upon al-Bashir's return.

He also said that al-Bashir was welcomed by the African continent and its leaders, adding that the "erroneous and deliberate media confusion" would not discourage the president from attending other African activities.

The minister added that al-Bashir's trip to South Africa has declared the "death of the ICC case," noting that the "ICC is almost finished in Africa as all the African countries refuse to implement its decisions."

The relationship between African leaders and ICC has remained tense since 2013 as allegations surfaced that the court was biased against individuals from the continent.

During a special AU summit held in Addis Ababa in June 2013, the newly elected Ethiopian Prime Minister, Haile Mariam Desalegn accused the ICC of "race hunt" for its obsession to prosecute African leaders.

African leaders during their biannual summits have agreed to shield themselves from prosecution at the ICC.

At the latest summit, African leaders were deliberating a proposal which would urge the ICC to suspend all cases against sitting presidents with the United Nations Security Council, conference sources said. Endit