AU commissioner says Sudan is an African country and its stability is a responsibility of the AU

AU Commissioner for Peace and Security Ramadan al-Amamra said that Sudan was an African country and the stability of Sudan was a responsibility of the AU. He said problems on African continent should be resolved by Africans.

March 10, 2009 report by Xinhua
AU absorbs negative impacts of ICC decision on Sudan

KHARTOUM -- The African Union (AU) said Monday that it was making contacts and consultations to absorb negative impacts of a recent decision issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Sudan.

The move was revealed during a meeting between Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir and visiting AU Commissioner Jean Ping and AU Commissioner for Peace and Security Ramadan al-Amamra.

Al-Wasila al-Samani, the Sudanese minister of state for foreign affairs, told reporters following the meeting that the visit of AU commissioner to Sudan showed the African efforts to solve the crisis between Sudan and the ICC.

He said that the AU commissioner noted that the problems on the African continent should be resolved by the hands of the Africans, and that the world should listen to the Africans and provide real helps which were needed by the Africans.

Meanwhile, Ramadan al-Amamra said that Sudan was an African country and the stability of Sudan was a responsibility of the AU.

"It seems that the ICC was established in order to point the finger of accusation against the Africa while ignoring what was happened in Iraq, Palestine and Afghanistan," the AU official said.

He reiterated that it is AU's wish to prevent the ICC decision against Sudan, adding that this decision was targeted not only Sudan but also the African continent as a whole.

He praised Sudan's position supporting the hybrid peacekeeping forces of the AU and the United Nations in Darfur, calling on the Sudanese people to continuously make efforts to reach a comprehensive and permanent peace in the country.

Jean Ping, who arrived in Khartoum earlier Monday, was the second chief of major regional organization to visit the Sudanese capital and meet with al-Bashir since the ICC issued on March 4 an arrest warrant against the Sudanese president.

A similar visit was paid on Saturday by Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa.

See Sudan Watch Monday, March 09, 2009: AU's Ping met with Sudan's Al-Bashir today - Libya: Secretary of AU Affairs meets Mustafa Othman Ismail (Update 3)