Omar al-Bashir disregards arrest warrant to attend Arab summit

AFP - Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes, will attend this week's Arab summit in Baghdad, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani's office said.

"President al-Bashir told President Talabani that he will head his country's delegation to attend the next Arab summit in Baghdad this week," the presidency's website said after a phone call between the two leaders.

Iraq is not a signatory to the ICC's founding Rome Statute, according to a copy of the treaty posted on the UN's website.

The foreign ministry has said on its website that "the protection of President al-Bashir is guaranteed one hundred percent," adding that the same goes for all summit attendees.

The Arab summit is due to be held in Baghdad from Tuesday to Thursday.

It is the first time that the Iraqi capital has hosted a meeting of the 22-member Arab League since now-executed dictator Saddam Hussein's 1990 invasion of Kuwait.

The Hague-based ICC issued an arrest warrant for Bashir in 2009 for alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in Darfur. A later warrant added genocide to the charges.