"Realpolitik and Referendums: The EU's role in deciding Omar al-Bashir's fate
Last week, Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir controversially decided against attending a summit of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) in Istanbul, Turkey. Sudan’s state-run news agency, Suna, reported that “new developments” in the North African nation had forced him to stay put. President Bashir, who has controlled conflict-ridden Sudan for the past 20 years, is facing extradition for war crimes and crimes against humanity, charges levelled at him by the International Criminal Court (ICC). Yet, even though the arrest warrant was issued as far back as March, he has since travelled freely to other African countries. At the African Union summit earlier this year, the continent’s leaders, in defiance of the ICC, voted overwhelmingly in favour of supporting the infamous Bashir. And the BBC reports that Turkey, host of the OIC summit, initially assured the Sudanese president he would not be arrested if he chose to attend."
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