BEIJING, June 28 (UPI) -- Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, who faces war crimes charges, arrived in China Tuesday after his flight was re-routed resulting in a delay.
The Sudan Vision newspaper said the presidential plane's scheduled arrival Monday was delayed due to change in the route over Turkmenistan, and the plane had to return to Iran, where al-Bashir had attended a conference to counter terrorism.
Al-Bashir had been scheduled to hold talks Monday with Chinese President Hu Jintao but the newspaper quoted Chinese Foreign Ministry officials as saying the talks would be postponed pending agreement on another date.
Al-Bashir's state visit is at the invitation of the Chinese president, but it has met with criticism as the Sudanese leader faces an International Criminal Court indictment over war crimes arising from fighting in the Darfur region. China's state-run Xinhua news agency said Tuesday al-Bashir and Chinese leaders will discuss ways to consolidate bilateral relations and expand cooperation.
In Washington, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said the United States continues "to oppose invitations, facilitations, support for travel by ICC indictees." She said the United States has a longstanding policy of "strongly urging" other nations to do the same and that China has been urged to join others in the call for Sudan to cooperate fully with the ICC as required by the U.N. Security Council.
China has defended al-Bashir's visit as its right and says it has reserved its opinion toward the International Criminal Court lawsuit against al-Bashir. Prior to leaving for China, al-Bashir had told Xinhua his country regards China as a strategic partner "in various fields, including the political, economic, commercial and cultural fields." China is a major importer of Sudanese oil.
Human Rights Watch has said China's invitation to Bashir is "an affront to victims of heinous crimes committed in Darfur."
