Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir flew out of South Africa on Monday, defying a court order for him to stay as judges weighed up whether he should be arrested for alleged war crimes and genocide. The International Criminal Court (ICC) said it was "disappointed" at South Africa's failure to heed its calls to detain Bashir on long-standing arrest warrants over the Darfur conflict. As his plane took off on the final day of an African Union leaders' summit in Johannesburg, the local high court was still hearing arguments over an urgent application to force the authorities to detain him.
"Our position has always been that South Africa's obligation is clear and unequivocal. It had an obligation to arrest him," the ICC's chief deputy prosecutor James Stewart told AFP.
After Bashir had departed, South African Judge Dunstan Mlambo also issued a harsh rebuke of the government for ignoring Sunday's court order, requiring the authorities to keep him grounded. "The conduct of the respondents - to the extent that they have failed to take steps to arrest and detain (Bashir) - is inconsistent with the constitution of the Republic of South Africa," Mlambo said. President Bashir's hurried departure from Waterkloof military airport outside Pretoria sparked anger from rights groups.
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