Uganda news round-up: Omar el-Bashir seeks to avoid 'diplomatic incident' over ICC arrest warrants; university department praised for journalism programme; calls for Ugandans to support domestic violence bill
A woman holds a poster of Sudan's president Omar al-Bashir at a demonstration in Khartoum against the international criminal court. Photograph: Reuters/Zohra Bensemra
The Sudanese president, Omar el-Bashir, has cancelled his trip to Uganda to avoid a "diplomatic incident" over whether he would be arrested under warrants issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
The president has been accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur.
Last Monday, ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo said Uganda, a signatory of the Rome Statute that established the court, had a legal obligation to arrest the president if he attended a Smart partnership conference, due to begin on Sunday. Reluctant to upset the African Union, which is currently reviewing the allegations made against Bashir before deciding whether to support the ICC warrants, Ugandan president, Yoweri Museveni, has not given a clear indication of whether his Sudanese counterpart would face arrest if he visited the country.
However, Museveni has apologised to the Sudanese leader for comments made early last week by the Ugandan minister for international relations, Henry Okello Oryem, that Bashir would be arrested if he arrived in Uganda.
"The two presidents spoke on how to solve this issue in a diplomatic manner," said foreign ministry permanent secretary James Mugume. "The president was sorry that the media made it appear that Bashir would be arrested upon arrival in Kampala."
It is believed that Bashir will now send another minister to the conference.
-Nathan133
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