Sudan leader Bashir, indicted for genocide, to attend summit with Trump

Sudanese FM says country hopes for ‘normalization’ of ties with US but unsure if handshake between leaders will occur

By AFP 17 May 2017, 6:17 pm

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Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir prepares to cast his ballot for the country's presidential and legislative elections in Khartoum, Sudan, April 13, 2015. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy, File)

GENEVA — Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, who has been charged with war crimes and genocide, will attend the same summit in Saudi Arabia as US President Donald Trump, Khartoum’s top diplomat said Wednesday.

“I can confirm President Bashir will go … to Saudi Arabia,” Sudan’s Foreign Minister Ibrahim Ghandour told reporters in Geneva. “We look forward (to) normalization of our relations with the US.”

The Saudi-hosted summit of Arab and Muslim leaders is expected to include top level talks on Sunday.

Trump is scheduled to be in Saudi Arabia, home to Islam’s holiest sites, from Saturday on his first foreign trip since taking office in January.

Asked if Bashir expected to shake hands with the US president, Ghandour said it was impossible to predict, but added that “a handshake doesn’t mean a lot if relations are not (good).”

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.