Sudan's Bashir, wanted for war crimes, invited to Trump summit in Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia has invited Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, who is wanted for alleged war crimes, to a summit with US President Donald Trump and Arab and Muslim leaders, a Saudi official said on Wednesday.
"He (Bashir) is invited," the official told AFP without saying whether the Sudanese leader would attend the top-level talks on Sunday.
Trump is scheduled to visit Saudi Arabia, home to Islam's holiest sites, from Saturday on his first foreign trip since taking office in January.
He will address the summit on his "hopes for a peaceful vision of Islam," the White House said on Tuesday.
Sudanese Foreign Minister Ibrahim Ghandour confrimed Bashir will travel to Saudi Arabia on Friday but there is no confirmation he will meet with U.S. President Donald Trump during his visit.
"I can confirm that President Bashir will go the day after tomorrow to Saudi Arabia," Ghandour told reporters in Geneva, declining to confirm whether Bashir would speak with Trump.
Ghandour also said the U.N. special envoy to Yemen had proposed a humanitarian ceasefire in Yemen during the month of Ramadan and he hoped it would take effect.
Bashir has evaded arrest since his indictment by the International Criminal Court in 2009 for alleged genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity related to the conflict in Darfur in which at least 300,000 people have been killed.
He denies the charges.
The Hague-based ICC was set up in 2002 as a court of last resort to try the world's worst crimes where national courts are unable or unwilling to act.
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