Ethiopia to ignore Beshir arrest warrant

Ethiopia will disregard the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant against Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir for war crimes in Darfur, the government said on Wednesday.

Communications Minister Bereket Simon said Addis Ababa supported the African Union’s call to have proceedings against Beshir deferred.

“We have always upheld that position and we have promoted the decision of deferring this indictment from the start,” Bereket said.

The AU, headquartered in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, said the arrest warrant threatened peace efforts in Sudan.

Asked whether Ethiopia, Sudan’s southern neighbour, would ignore the warrant if Beshir visited, Bereket said: “Absolutely.”