Sudan's Bashir heads to S. Africa for African Union summit

Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir headed to South Africa on Saturday to attend an African Union summit, according to sources at the presidency and state media, despite being the subject an International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant.

The court issued the arrest warrant in 2009, accusing Bashir of war crimes and crimes against humanity related to the conflict in Darfur. He denies the charges.

South Africa is a member of the ICC, which does not have its own police force and relies on member states to detain suspects.

Bashir has boarded a flight to Johannesburg to head Sudan's delegation at the summit which starts on Sunday, the presidency sources and the state Sudan News Agency said.

Since the arrest warrant was issued, most of Bashir's trips abroad have been to non-ICC states such as Saudi Arabia and Egypt. But he has also been to member states that have declined to arrest him, such as Nigeria, which hosted him in July 2013.

"Allowing President al-Bashir into South Africa without arresting him would be a major stain on South Africa's reputation on promoting justice for grave crimes," Elise Keppler, acting international justice director at New-York based advocacy group Human Rights Watch, said in a statement on Friday.

"South Africa's legal obligations as an ICC member mean cooperating in al-Bashir's arrest, not in his travel plans," she added.

A South African government spokesman declined to comment.

Bashir cancelled a trip to Indonesia for a summit in April at the last minute. The plan to attend an Asia-African leaders conference in Jakarta sparked protests among rights groups, who want the president to be arrested.