DUBAI, Wednesday

Qatar is under pressure not to receive Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir at an Arab summit next week over an international indictment for war crimes, the Gulf Arab state's prime minister has said.

Bashir risks arrest when he leaves Sudan because of the warrant issued for him by the Hague-based International Criminal Court this month, and Sudanese Islamic scholars have warned him not to travel to a summit of Arab leaders in Qatar next Monday.

"There are pressures, but you know Qatar well," Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani, also Qatar's foreign minister, said in remarks broadcast by Qatar-based Al Jazeera television.

He did not say who was putting pressure on Qatar, a close US ally that hosts a large US military base. The tiny Gulf state is the world's largest exporter of liquefied natural gas.

"We presented the invitation and I have come to present it again, as the prime minister and foreign minister. We respect international law and we respect the presence of Bashir in Qatar," he said, addressing reporters in Khartoum.

Gulf Arab countries have expressed strong support for Bashir, who visited Eritrea this week in defiance of the indictment, and arrived in Egypt on Wednesday.

Though close to Washington, Qatar has furthered its maverick image, maintaining close ties with Syria, Iran and Islamist groups Hamas and Hezbollah -- all at odds with Washington and its regional Arab allies. (Reuters)