05/19/2017

Donald Trump’s visit to the Middle East

No handshake with mass murderer Bashir – Saudi Arabia manages to avoid a scandal (Press Release)

If Bashir and Trump had shaken hands, this would have been a symbolic setback for the global struggle against impunity. Photo: Gage Skidmore via Wikimedia Commons

The Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) expressed relief that Sudan’s President Omar Hassan al Bashir did not take part in a meeting of the leaders of the Arab world with US President Donald Trump in Riyadh. If Bashir and Trump had shaken hands, this would have been a symbolic setback for the global struggle against impunity,” said Ulrich Delius, the STP’s Africa expert, in Göttingen on Friday. “Following first steps to improve the relations between Sudan and the United States, Bashir had hoped for further rehabilitation in the scope of the summit in Riyadh. “However, after quite a struggle behind the scenes, Bashir had to cancel his participation in the summit because Saudi Arabia feared a scandal.

On Wednesday this week, the Sudanese government had announced that Bashir would attend the summit. Sudanese government representatives stated that he had officially been invited by Saudi Arabia – but it had not yet been decided whether he would be able to meet US President Trump. On Wednesday, Ibrahim Ghandour, the Sudanese Foreign Minister, had still been cautiously optimistic about a meeting with Trump and a normalization in the relations with the US.

However, the US embassy in Khartoum tried to prevent a meeting between Trump and Bashir – obviously for fear that America’s image might suffer – and considerable diplomatic activities were undergone to avoid an éclat. Last Tuesday, the Saudi Arabian Minister of State, Mohammed bin Abdul Malik Al-Sheikh paid an unannounced visit to Khartoum, where he met with leading government representatives. According to unconfirmed reports, he even met with President Bashir. “We assume that Saudi Arabia had insistently urged Bashir not to come to Riyadh so as to avoid a scandal in connection with the summit meeting with Trump,” said Delius.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague has issued an arrest warrant against Sudan’s President Bashir because of his involvement in the genocide crimes in Darfur. Nevertheless, Bashir regularly travels to other countries. In many African countries, he is able to move around quite freely, since the states are unwilling to enforce the ICC’s arrest warrant. 

Header Photo: Gage Skidmore via Wikimedia Commons