Arab League says it won't arrest Bashir

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, March 17 (UPI) -- The Arab League says it won't exercise an international arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar Bashir if he attends an Arab summit in Qatar this month.

"We in the presidency of the Arab League have a clear position on this request and we totally reject it," said Amr Moussa, the league's secretary general.

Earlier this month, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Bashir on seven counts of war crimes in Darfur and crimes against humanity, including murder, rape and torture.

Qatar is not legally obligated to arrest Bashir because Qatar is not a signatory of the criminal court statutes, Al Arabiya reported Tuesday.

Aides to Bashir say he will have special security arrangements when he travels to Qatar, including fighter jets flying alongside his presidential plane.