20100829
Nation

Nairobi — Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir held talks with President Kibaki and other visiting heads of state after the promulgation of the new Constitution on Friday.

But he declined to join the rest of the guests for a luncheon at State House and instead, headed straight to the airport.

Cabinet ministers said Mr Bashir, a Muslim, excused himself saying he was fasting. Muslims worldwide are observing one month of fasting, Ramadhan.

"They held a round-table sort of meeting, all of them were there, including Museveni, Kagame, Karume and the others," said one minister.

"He announced he could not join us for lunch because he was fasting," said a source who declined to be named because of the visit's controversy.

The details emerged as the government tried to defend its decision to invite the Sudanese leader, who has a warrant of arrest for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity, and on charges of genocide in Sudan's western province of Darfur.

Kenya, a signatory to the treaty which set up the ICC, is obliged to arrest Mr Bashir. Foreign Affairs assistant minister Richard Onyonka said Kenya invited Mr Bashir and Southern Sudanese President Salva Kiir in the spirit of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement which will culminate in a referendum in that country in January.

The sources said chief mediator Kofi Annan, who has condemned Kenya for hosting Mr Bashir, was not at State House during the heads of state meeting and only joined other dignitaries at the luncheon after the Sudanese leader had left.

The Nation learnt that President Bashir arrived and left through Jomo Kenyatta International Airport on Friday morning and signed the visitors' book for world leaders who come into the country.

On Sunday, a leading political consultant warned that Kenya could suffer dire consequences for the visit. "The consequences are dire because we risk being branded a rogue democracy condoning injustices in Darfur. It will cost us a lot to rebrand Kenya," said Prof Peter Kagwanja, who heads the Africa Policy Institute.

"My appeal to the international community is to understand Kenya's predicament of trying to promote regional peace and stability and our commitment to the Rome Statute.

"The coming of Bashir was part of the engagement by the government to promote regional peace and stability, which is part of our mandate as a regional power, but his invitation brought a collision of two issues, Kenya's obligation to bring peace in the region and its obligations to the Rome Statute," he said.

Already, the International Criminal Court has reported Kenya to the UN Security Council. The Security Council is yet to respond to a previous ICC notification that Sudan itself was not cooperating with the court. It is not clear it will do so now and reprimand Kenya.

A source familiar with ICC investigations into the 2008 post-election violence said a senior officer, Mr Emergi Rogogier was in Kenya last week to gauge the government's commitment to arresting the violence masterminds. It is unlikely he will return a positive verdict after Mr Bashir's visit.