EU seeks to divide Africa, Sudan says as Bashir denied invite

Sudan on Sunday accused the European Union of trying to divide Africa after the EU refused to invite President Omar al-Bashir to a major summit this week.

Mr Bashir is wanted by The Hague-based International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide in Sudan's Darfur region, where conflict has raged for 11 years.

"Until today, March 30, President Bashir has not received an invitation to the summit," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

The summit on Wednesday and Thursday will gather representatives of 90 nations from both continents, including 65 heads of state and government.

"The invitation of this summit to the African leaders was selective and in doing this the European Union is trying to divide the African Union," the Sudanese statement said.

A Brussels official said earlier that the African Union was free to invite Mr Bashir even though the EU had refused him an invitation.

Sudan's foreign ministry said the AU's position is that all its leaders should be invited.

The summit should be postponed "until the African Union's concerns are addressed, and this will guarantee its credibility and respect in the international community, because the African continent is one," Sudan said.

Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe will boycott the summit after his wife was denied a visa to enter Europe, a foreign ministry official in Harare said on Friday. 

Harare also urged the AU to shun the summit for failing to invite all the bloc's leaders and lift a ban on Zimbabwe's first lady.

Diplomats in Brussels were unfazed by the call for a boycott.

Source; Africa Review