Sudan lashes out at Uganda for not inviting Bashir to African summit

Sudan on Sunday slammed an announcement by Uganda that it would not invite Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir to the African Union (AU) summit, which Kampala is to host in July.

"What has been issued by the office of the Ugandan president on not inviting president al-Bashir to the summit, if true, reflects the ill intention of the Ugandan regime," said a statement by the Sudanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Sunday.

"The Ugandan government was hasty in announcing something that is not subject to its authority, as invitations to the African summits is not for the host country to decide, but it falls on the African Union," the statement added.

The Sudanese Foreign Ministry requested an apology from the Ugandan government and that such announcement be retracted.

The ministry further threatened, in case Kampala did not backtrack on its position, to request the AU to relocate the summit to any other African capital that commits to decisions taken by previous AU summits, and would host all African leaders without kneeling under foreign pressures or dictations, according to the statement.

The Sudanese Foreign Ministry said that "Uganda, with its unbalanced stance, dealt a devastating blow to the AU by opposing resolutions taken by African summits and by acting individually."

The office of Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni earlier Sunday announced that the Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has not been invited to attend the AU summit, to be hosted by Kampala in July.

The Ugandan president's office said that Sudan would be represented in the summit by "another government official" but not al-Bashir.

Since the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant against al-Bashir in March 2009 over war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur, African leaders, in their summits, have clearly denounced the ICC warrant and stated they will not deal with the order.

Source: Xinhua