The government of Botswana does not agree with this decision and wishes to reaffirm its position, [which is] that, as a state party to the Rome Statute on the International Criminal Court, it has treaty obligations to fully co-operate with the court in the arrest and transfer of the president of Sudan to the court, Foreign Minister Phandu Skelemani said.
The African Union decided on Friday, at its summit meeting in Libya, not to co-operate with a war crimes warrant against Bashir and again appealed to the UN to delay prosecuting the case.
Botswana was represented at the summit by Vice-President Mompati Merafh and by Skelemani.
Skelemani said he had tried to make his countrys stance known at the summit and had asked to be allowed to make a comment on the decision, along with many others, but the chairman of the AU chose to close debate on the question.
At the summit, it is not everyone who spoke. We had our hands up, but one member moved that the question should be put, he said.
Skelemani said Botswana had made its stance regarding the capture of the Sudanese president known before the AU summit.
We said we will hand al-Bashir over to the ICC if ever he came to us, Skelemani said.
The Times (SA)
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