Sudan's al-Bashir cancels visit to summit

ISTANBUL, Turkey, Nov. 9 (UPI) -- Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, wanted by the International Criminal Court, has canceled plans to attend a conference in Turkey, local reports indicate.

Radio France Internationale said Monday reports indicated Bashir called Turkish President Abdullah Gul to tell him he could not spare the time to attend the economic summit of the Organization of the Islamic Conference in Istanbul.

RFI said speculation had been mounting Bashir would skip the conference after the European Union reportedly put pressure on Turkey to either bar the president or arrest him in accordance with a genocide warrant issued by the international war crimes tribunal in The Hague.

Emma Sinclair-Webb of Human Rights Watch in Istanbul told the French broadcaster she had intended to organize a demonstration to protest the Turkish government's refusal to bar Bashir, saying she was disappointed it was president who canceled the trip.

"This is not doing Turkey any good -- it is doing Turkey a lot of international harm to be seen to be having such a close relationship with a state whose president is indicted for such serious violations of human rights," she told RFI.