Despite the ICC arrest warrant, the Arab League summit in Doha spelled out clearly that the Arab states will not honor it by arresting Sudanese president Omar Hassan Bashir. Reuters reports that, following the summit, Bashir went to Saudi Arabia to perform the lesser pilgrimage, umrah. No matter what warrants may be out there, Saudi Arabia is highly unlikely to arrest any Muslim who visits the country in order to perform pilgrimage. To do otherwise would be to put the state above God, something the Saudis simply would not risk doing.
Sudan’s Bashir defies ICC warrant with Saudi trip
KHARTOUM, (Reuters) – Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir arrived in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday for a brief pilgrimage, his latest trip abroad in defiance of an international arrest warrant against him, official media said.
It was Bashir’s fifth visit to a foreign state since the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant against him on March 4, accusing him of war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Darfur region of western Sudan.
The official Saudi news agency said Bashir arrived in the Red Sea port city of Jeddah to perform umrah, a short Islamic pilgrimage.
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April:01:2009 - 08:38
Saudi Arabia showered Bashir with the Kingdom’s highest humanitarian honor a couple of years ago, so this is not just about Saudi not arresting a Muslim on Umrah.
Saudi Arabia fully supports Bashir, period.
300,000 dead (black) Sudanese since 2003 (and 1.5 million refugees) is simply not a big issue in the Arab World.
It’s a little “internal” problem that doesn’t concern anybody else.
Saudi Arabia would just as soon prefer everyone simply drop the issue of a few hundred thousands dead black Africans and focus instead on the far more important issue of Palestinian “martyrs.”
April:01:2009 - 09:08
I disagree. I think that some Saudis support Bashir while others think he’s doing serious damage to the Arab/Islamic cause. The particular instance of his gaining permission to performing umrah, I don’t think, says much about whether or not the Saudis support him. That, in fact, was the point of the post: whether or not they support him, they could not deny him permission for pilgrimage.
There are many Arabs and Muslims who see the ICC warrant against Bashir as simply the latest manifestation of anti-Arab and anti-Muslim ‘imperialism’. I think they’re grossly wrong and damage their own causes through mindless conspiracy theories. What is going on in Darfur, regardless of whether it qualifies as ‘genocide’, must be stopped. Bashir has it within his power to stop it.
Still, I think the ICC warrant was pretty mindless in itself. An arrest warrant with no way to enforce it is not clever diplomacy—something the ICC should have realized from the start.
April:01:2009 - 09:26
We should have told Saddam to make Hajj and become an over stayer in Mecca. Maybe he would still be breathing today. “Can’t touch this!”
I think this is a good way for Saudi to get more of a bad rep. Can’t refuse anyone their holy pilgrimage…no matter what! Nice…
This outrages me because Saudi refuses people pilgrimage all the time. I wonder if Al Q or terrorists are stopped if caught on their way to take their basket of goodies to grandmother or permitted passage to go because nobody can be refused the pilgrimage. This mentality is purely insane…
The Saudis wouldn’t put the state above God…Do you really believe that? The God that I think might exist would want an accused war criminal to be punished or at least brought to some sort of justice. The God I know would not want a criminal to prance around the Kaba encircling saying “All the shit I have done is forgiven because I am walking barefoot and half naked for a minute!!!!”
April:01:2009 - 10:16
I agree that issuing a toothless warrant was probably a bad idea. But the King gave Bashir his country’s highest humanitarian honor. That to me indicates that the King has endorsed Bashir as a humanitarian. And as far as I can tell, most Saudis really, really do not care about what’s going on in Darfur at best and at worst accuse the West (or even Israel) of demonizing Bashir in order to get at Sudan’s resources. There really is a palpable double standard where every Palestinian is a noble martyr but the issue in Sudan is an internal “conflict” that the West is stirring up to get at Sudan’s resources.
Of course it doesn’t help that the US and the ICC select their outrage and targets, as well. I doubt Saddam Hussein killed as many people as quickly as the Sudanese govenrment (with its proxies) have done since 2003.
April:01:2009 - 10:43
Maybe Bashir is the black bow legged man who is supposed to destroy the Kaba stone by stone as reported by the Prophet.
He looks chubby and as if he wouldn’t have thin weak legs. I wonder if anyone has a photo of his legs!!!
April:02:2009 - 03:54
Sparky,
can you tell me where that report is mentioned in the Quran (that a black bow-legged man will destroy the Kaaba) ?
Apart from that I fully approve your words that God would not want such a person to behave like he does and to expect God’s pardon just because he performs certain religious duties….. But that happens in different religions, doesn’t it ?
April:02:2009 - 08:21
International experts say at least 200,000 people have been killed and more than 2.7 million driven from their homes in almost six years of ethnic and political fighting
Sparky’s right. None of it matters because the Saudis are permitting Bashir to perform the umrah, so that means he’s a “good Muslim”.
April:02:2009 - 09:46
Hi Michel…
I had read it years ago in an Islamic book but I also found it at this link
A book written by Muhammad Hisham Kabbani titled “The Approach of Armageddon.” It was weird because a number of years ago I woke up from a dream and told my husband I had saw an old black man with a cane knocking away at the kabaa and that the kabaa was in shambles. That was even before I had read or heard about the hadith.
Yes, a lot of religions teach that one can take a minute to say a few words and do a few rituals and all is forgiven. I just thought Islam was supposed to be different, but I am finding out everyday it isn’t! ! !
Let me sum it up a little, “Something ain’t right…”
April:05:2009 - 09:59
Islam And The West Accelerated Links [04/05/2009]…
Crossroads Arabia explains why Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir can visit Saudi Arabia even though there is an ICC arrest warrant out in his name….