AMSTERDAM-- The International Criminal Court (ICC) said on Wednesday that Chad was obliged to arrest Sudanese President Omar Hassan Al Bashir because it was an ICC member state. “The main element concerning Chad and all other member states is to implement judges' decisions and cooperate with a request for arrest,” ICC representative Fadi Al Abdallah said. Al Bashir began a visit to Chad earlier in the day. A Sudanese presidential source said Al Bashir had left Khartoum for Chad, his first trip abroad since the genocide warrant and the first time he has set foot in a country which is a full member of the ICC. “Chad should deny entry to Sudanese President Omar Al Bashir or arrest him for trial at the ICC,” New York-based Human Rights Watch said in a statement. “Chad risks the shameful distinction of being the first ICC member state to harbour a suspected war criminal from the court,” said Elise Keppler, International Justice Program senior counsel at HRW. The ICC has no police force and relies on member states to arrest fugitives. A junior minister and a Darfur militia leader are also wanted by the court but Khartoum has refused to hand them over. Three Darfur rebels also wanted by the ICC all surrendered to The Hague-based court. Khartoum signed the Rome Statute which formed the ICC but never ratified the treaty and refuses to recognise its authority. The African Union has accused the court of targeting the continent and recommended Africa not cooperate with the ICC. Relations between Chad and Sudan have been tumultuous since Darfur rebels, many of whom belong to Chadian President Idriss Deby's Zaghawa tribe, took up arms in early 2003 accusing Khartoum of neglecting the arid region. But this year the neighbours signed an agreement to stop supporting each others' insurgents, jointly patrol the long and porous border and reopen diplomatic relations. Al Bashir supported Deby's 1990 coup to take power. “If there was one percent of a doubt about Deby we would never let Al Bashir go,” one source in Sudan's presidency told Reuters before Al Bashir's departure. Al Bashir is due to attend the Sahel-Saharan summit in N'Djamena, presidential sources said. Sudan expelled two of the most prominent Chadian rebel leaders, Mahamat Nouri and Timan Erdimi, on Tuesday, seen as a final concession to cement good relations ahead of the visit.
