BEIJING, China – Sudanese President Omar Hassan Ahmed Bashir arrived in Beijing on July 5 following an unexpected delay for a meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao which was initially scheduled to take place on July 4.
Bashir arrived in China on Tuesday after being invited to visit the country by Chinese President Hu Jintao (Photo Courtesy of International Business Times).
Indictments by the International Criminal Court against Bashir have made Beijing’s invitation to the Sudanese leader controversial and has led to condemnation by several rights groups including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International. Because China is not a member of the International Criminal Court, the country was not obligated to arrest Bashir once he presented himself in the country.
The International Criminal Court has indicted Bashir on charges of genocide for the mass killings that have occurred in the Darfur region of Sudan since the leader’s rise to office in 1993.
Richard Dicker, the director of Human Rights Watch’s international justice program stated that “Bashir’s flouting of international arrest warrants should be cause for condemnation, not for an invitation.”
Chinese President Hu Jintao reportedly invited Bashir to China to increase cooperation between the two nations and “exchange views on Sudan’s ongoing north-south peace process and the Darfur issue.”
Bashir’s visit comes just before the secession of South Sudan from the North which is expected to occur at midnight on July 9.
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by Adom M. Cooper
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East
SUEZ, Egypt–After a court upheld the release on bail of policemen accused of killing 17 people during an uprising, hundreds of family members of the victims displayed their own disapproval with the outcome. They attacked police cars and flung stones at the court building.
Protesters in Suez throwing stones at the court building and attacking police cars. (Photo Courtesy of BBC)
On July 4, 2011, the same sort of displeasure was festering in Cairo when the seven officers were originally granted bail. The snowball effect has been in full swing in Egypt as anger has been mounting about the slow pace of the trials for officials and security forces of former President Hosni Mubarak.
These seven officers are part of a group of 14 facing trial over the murder of 17 protesters and the wounding of 300 others. The other seven decided to flee and are currently being tried in absentia.
Activists have called for a demonstration this coming Friday, July 8, 2011, in Cairo’s Tahrir Square, hoping to muster more then a million protesters. Tahrir Square is the nerve center for the protests that forced former President Hosni Mubarak to resign on February 11th of this year.
Since that time, only one single policeman has been convicted in more than a dozen court cases over the death of approximately 850 people in the government-wide crackdown on protesters.
The case of these police officers is just a microcosm of the increased tensions in Egypt. The management of legal proceedings against security forces who used deadly force in the uprising, killing approximately 846 civilians and wounding thousands, has only further angered the protesters desiring change.
Egypt’s opposition movement, the Muslim Brotherhood, has decided to support Friday’s planned protest. Ayman Mohyeldin, an Al-Jazeera correspondent, shared these sentiments while reporting from Egypt on the developing situation:
“Military police are here on the scene, they are trying to control the situation, but so far they have been unsuccessful in pushing the crowd back. They have been able to secure the entrance to the building in order to secure the people from going in, but the situation outside remains very tense. This situation highlights the frustration Egyptians have toward the process of justice that is unfolding.”
At the other end of the spectrum, approximately 10,000 civilians face military trials for their participation in the protests. These trials have further spit fuel onto the fire of pro-democracy activists calling for the end of the oppressive methods of Mubarak’s regime.
KABUL, Afghanistan— Approximately nine Taliban suicide bombers stormed the prestigious hilltop Inter-Continental Hotel in the capital city late Tuesday night, killing up to twenty-one people in the raid. Armed with rocket-propelled grenades and other weapons, the attackers entered the heavily guarded hotel where foreigners and authorities generally stay. An Afghan security official said that three of the suicide bombers detonated their explosives, one in front of the main gate, one on the second floor and one behind the hotel, reports the Khaama Press.
The Inter-Continental Hotel after the attack (Photo courtesy of Ahmad Masood / Reuters)
It is unclear whether the attack was in response to a local governor’s meeting or the upcoming transfer of police power. Regardless, the attack comes at a critical time as the United States plans to transfer security responsibilities to the national intelligence police in Kabul on the fourteenth. Afghan president Hamid Karzai has stated for months that his security forces are competent enough to handle Taliban attacks. President Obama has also announced the withdrawal of 33,000 American troops by the end of next year.
In response to the various Taliban attacks that preceded and followed the hotel bombing, President Karzai has spoken with Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari about doing more to prevent Taliban activities. Both sides point fingers at the other when discussing the Taliban’s actions in their countries, but Afghan and US officials have pushed Pakistan to do more on the Pakistani side of the border to prevent future attacks reports Dawn.
Kamel Khan, a businessman, was visiting the hotel when the raid began. Khan heard gunfire and saw a man carrying a machine gun, with an ammunition belt across his chest, and a backpack. Khan stated “He stared at all of the guests like he wanted to kill us, and he had enough bullets to do it, but for some reason he just turned and kept going.”
Another hotel visitor, Maulvi Mohammed Orsaji, the head of the Takhar Provincial Council, was having dinner with a judge in the hotel’s formal dining room when several gunmen entered the room and killed the judge and Orsaji’s guard. Orsaji related that he had previous military experience, but he had never seen such a wild attack in his life. Some of the bombers carried tape recorders playing Taliban war songs and shot at anyone they saw, reports MSNBC.
When Afghan security forces entered the building, some of the attackers blew themselves up. A NATO helicopter then killed the remaining insurgents in a rooftop battle reports MSNBC. In a statement claiming responsibility for the attack, Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said he received a phone call from one of his fighters during the raid. The fighter stated that the attackers killed the guards at one of the entrances to the hotel, and the assault was going as planned reports MSNBC.
Lutfullah Mashal, spokesman for the national intelligence police, continued to proclaim that the local police have the ability to protect residents from terrorist attacks in a news conference following the hotel siege. However, police officials were unable to explain how the attackers were able to enter the heavily guarded hotel with such a large arsenal of weapons.
