{{CAPE TOWN (Reuters) }} -{ South African President Jacob Zuma defended the decision to let Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir evade an arrest warrant and leave the country in June, saying on Thursday the wanted leader had had immunity as a guest of the African Union.}<\/p>\n
Bashir – accused of masterminding genocide during Sudan’s Darfur conflict – was allowed to leave an AU summit and fly home in defiance of a local court ruling ordering his detention under a warrant from the International Criminal Court (ICC).<\/p>\n
“Bashir’s coming to South Africa, it was on the invitation of the AU (African Union),” Zuma said in his first comments on the incident since Bashir’s departure.<\/p>\n
“He is the guest of the AU,” Zuma told opposition politicians who demanded an explanation in parliament.<\/p>\n
Bashir’s exit triggered an international outcry and highlighted deep rifts between the global court and African powers who have accused the ICC of bias against the continent.<\/p>\n
The Hague-based tribunal – set up to try the worst crimes when local courts fail – has so far only charged Africans.<\/p>\n
Mmusi Maimane, head of the opposition Democratic Alliance, caller Bashir “a man wanted … for genocide against Africans,” and asked Zuma why he had not kept previous promises to enforce the warrant – as all ICC members are bound to do.<\/p>\n
Zuma told parliament Bashir would have been detained if he had visited South Africa as an individual, rather than as a delegate to an AU summit.<\/p>\n
Pretoria has said it will review its membership of the ICC and challenge a high court ruling that found the state erred in letting Bashir leave.<\/p>\n
Zuma received support from one of his most vocal critics, opposition firebrand Julius Malema, who told parliament on Thursday: “We are not going to agree for the arrest of an African leader in South Africa to polarise Africa and make South Africa an enemy of the whole of Africa.”<\/p>\n
Bashir has dismissed the ICC charges and says he does not recognise the court.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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