Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for genocide and war crimes, asks Russia’s Vladimir Putin to protect his country from the United States.
Speaking during his first visit to Russia as president, Bashir also says he wanted to ramp up military ties and praised Moscow’s military campaign in Syria.
“We have been dreaming about this visit for a long time,” the Sudanese president tells Putin at the Black Sea resort of Sochi. “We are thankful to Russia for its position on the international arena, including Russia’s position in the protection of Sudan. We are in need of protection from the aggressive acts of the United States.”
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)
The visit came a month after the United States lifted a trade embargo it imposed on the impoverished African state in 1997 over Khartoum’s alleged backing of Islamist militant groups. US President Donald Trump also removed Sudan from a list of countries facing a US travel ban.
Sudan’s deadly conflict in Darfur broke out in 2003 when ethnic minority groups took up arms against Bashir’s Arab-dominated government, which launched a brutal counter-insurgency. The UN says at least 300,000 people have been killed and more than 2.5 million displaced as a result of the conflict.
— AFP
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