Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir who has applied for a visa to travel to the US. PHOTO/AFP
Tuesday, September 17, 2013
The United States has disclosed that Sudan's president Omar
al-Bashir has officially applied for a visa to travel to the country to
attend the UN General Assembly which will be held in New York City end
of September. In a press release issued on Monday and seen by Africa Review,
the US Department of State condemned the request and asked Bashir to
stand before the International Criminal Court (ICC) to answer to crimes
committed in Darfur.
“We can confirm that we have
received a visa application for President Omar al-Bashir of Sudan to
attend events related to the opening of the UN General Assembly at the
end of September," the statement said.
“We condemn
any potential effort by President Bashir to travel to New York, given
that he stands accused of genocide, war crimes and crimes against
humanity by the International Criminal Court," the statement added.
Khartoum is yet to respond to the statement.
Washington
and Khartoum have tense diplomatic relations as the US has put Khartoum
on its list of countries which sponsor terrorism and imposed economic
sanctions on Sudan since 1997.
The Hague-based ICC
issued two warrants of arrest against Bashir in 2009 and 2010 for war
crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide over the conflict in
Sudan's Darfur region.