African Foreign Ministers say arrest warrant for Bashir wrongly timed

African Foreign Ministers who attended the NORDIC-Africa summit in Copenhagen, have said that the warrant by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for the arrest of President Al Bashir of Sudan had been wrongly timed.

Briefing Ghana News Agency on the meeting, Alhaji Mohammed Mumuni, Ghana's Minister of Foreign Affairs, who represented the country, said "We the African representatives agreed that the ICC was doing a good job but we were also of the view that the timing of the arrest warrant was inappropriate."

He said it was the view of the Ministers that the ICC should have considered concerns of the African Union that the warrant should be suspended, to allow the continuation of the peace processes in the Sudan.

Alhaji Mumuni said global peace and security were generally discussed at the summit with particular reference to Zimbabwe, Guinea-Bissau and Mauritania.

He said that it was recognised that the most comprehensive challenge to human security was the climate, since it impacted on such basic human needs as food, health, and even the dynamics of conflict.

Alhaji Mumuni said "We underscored the point that carbon emissions were depleting the ozone layer, a problem which Africa was not in the least responsible for but rather suffered the consequences."

He said the African representatives put forward the idea of the payment of compensation to Africa by the industrialised countries, which were responsible for the damage, to help the continent deal with the harsh effects of the situation.

The meeting is held annually between Africa and NORDIC countries, consisting Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Island, to create an informal platform for the exchange of ideas and views on global affairs.

Ten African countries namely, Ghana, Nigeria, Mali, Senegal, Benin, Lesotho, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania and Botswana attended the meeting.

GNA