China welcomes Sudan leader wanted on war crimes (AP)

BEIJING – China said Sudan's president will be warmly welcomed on his delayed state visit Tuesday and it would reserve opinion on the international warrant that accuses him of war crimes.

President Omar al-Bashir has been welcomed in many countries in recent years and would be to China as well, Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said.

The International Criminal Court warrant alleging war crimes is its first against a sitting head of state, accusing al-Bashir of orchestrating atrocities in Sudan's Darfur region. China, a major economic partner for Sudan, is not a member of the court.

"China is not a signatory of the ICC ... and we reserve our opinion on the ICC's prosecution of al-Bashir," Hong told a news conference.

Al-Bashir will hold talks with President Hu Jintao on Wednesday, a meeting delayed a day because al-Bashir arrived nearly 24 hours later than expected.

Sudan's Foreign Ministry said in a statement Monday the plane was told to change its route while flying over Turkmenistan but was unable to do so, and instead returned to Tehran.

Sudan's ruling National Congress Party has suggested the United States pressured China and other countries in an attempt to cancel the trip.

Sudanese media reported that the presidential plane was over Turkmenistan airspace when authorities there said they had withdrawn an earlier flight authorization for it.

Another country in the flight path, Tajikistan, excused itself from a prior authorization by citing military exercises taking place in the same airspace, according to the independent Al Rae Al Aam daily, among others.

After Al-Bashir's plane returned to Iran, the Chinese government insisted the trip be completed, the newspapers reported, quoting informed sources in the government who asked not to be named.

"This is a new defeat for the United States of America" the independent daily Al Rae Al Aam, quoted Gotbi Mahadi, a senior ruling party official as saying.

Al-Bashir's talks with Chinese leaders are expected to focus on promoting peace in the African nation ahead of south Sudan's independence next month.

Violence has escalated in areas contested by the north and soon-to-be-independent south, and China is pressing both sides to peacefully settle the disputes, Beijing's special envoy for African affairs Liu Guijin said last week.

China has long had close ties with the leaders of the north. It has been courting support in the oil-producing south, which becomes an independent country July 9.

South Sudan's declaration of independence next month will be the culmination of a 2005 peace deal that ended more than two decades of civil war that killed more than 2 million people.

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Associated Press writer Mohamed Osman in Khartoum, Sudan, contributed to this report.

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Sudan leader Omar al-Bashir arrives in Beijing: AFP (AFP)

BEIJING (AFP) – Omar al-Bashir, wanted for war crimes, arrived in Beijing early Tuesday, according to an AFP photographer, a day after the Sudanese leader was originally due in China to meet President Hu Jintao.

Bashir's visit has outraged rights groups who criticise Beijing for hosting a man wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for atrocities committed during Sudan's civil war.

He had been scheduled to arrive early Monday but Chinese foreign ministry staff said his plane was "delayed", prompting the cancellation of planned meetings, including with Hu.

Chinese state media confirmed the arrival for a state visit as a guest of President Hu.

A Xinhua report quoted comments made earlier by Chinese Foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei, saying leaders of the two nations will discuss "how to consolidate China-Sudan relations and expand cooperation."

The two sides will also exchange views on Sudan's ongoing north-south peace process and the Darfur issue, Hong said.

China is a key supporter of the regime in Khartoum despite ICC arrest warrants for Bashir for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in Sudan's western Darfur region, where about 300,000 people have died since 2003.

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Sudanese leader Bashir visits China (AFP)

BEIJING (AFP) – Sudanese leader Omar al-Bashir arrived in China on Tuesday for talks with President Hu Jintao, as the United States and rights groups criticised Beijing for hosting an alleged war criminal.

An AFP journalist saw Bashir's presidential plane touch down in Beijing in the early hours, a day later than planned, after Sudan's foreign ministry said it was forced to choose a "new route" while flying over Turkmenistan.

The change in plans forced an overhaul of Bashir's schedule, but not a cancellation of talks with Hu nor a red-carpet ceremony at the Great Hall of the People for a man who is unwelcome in many countries.

Bashir is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for alleged genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity that occurred in Sudan's western Darfur region, where about 300,000 people have died since 2003.

China is a key supporter of the Sudanese leader, who is the first sitting head of state targeted by an ICC arrest warrant.

Beijing is a key military supplier to the regime in Khartoum and the biggest buyer of the country's oil, although the majority of Sudan's oil fields are located in the south, which will become independent on July 9.

Bashir's meetings with Hu and other senior Chinese leaders are now set for Wednesday, according to the foreign ministry in Beijing.

The Sudanese leader had been due to stay in China until Thursday, but it was unclear whether the delay would now prolong his stay. He last visited the country in 2006.

"This visit is the continuation of the distinguished relations between Sudan and China, which have remained friendly and progressive," Bashir told China's official Xinhua news agency in an interview ahead of the trip.

He hailed Beijing as a "strategic partner" and said that China "does not intervene in the internal affairs of others".

Beijing on Tuesday again defended the visit, with foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei saying: "As a friendly country of China, the Sudanese leader's visit to China is quite reasonable."

The spokesman added: "In recent years, President Bashir has made many visits to foreign countries and was warmly welcomed by those countries. He will also be welcomed in China."

He said Bashir's visit would be "conducive to the development of the traditional friendship between China and Sudan, as well as the advancement of the peace process of North-South Sudan" and would touch on Darfur.

Hong attributed Bashir's delayed arrival to "technical reasons".

Officials at the Sudanese embassy in Beijing were not immediately available for comment when contacted by AFP.

In the interview with Xinhua, Bashir insisted that southern independence "will not affect the relationship" between Beijing and Khartoum, hailing China as a model "real partner".

The Sudanese leader's visit to China has sparked outrage among rights groups, and earned the reproach of the US State Department.

"We continue to oppose invitations, facilitation, support for travel by ICC indictees," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said on Monday.

"We have a longstanding policy of strongly urging other nations to do the same," she said. "We have urged China to join the international community in its call for Sudan to cooperate fully with the ICC."

ICC statutes dictate that any member country should arrest Bashir if he visits. China is not a party to those statutes, nor is the United States.

"We reserve our opinion on the ICC's prosecution against President Bashir," Hong said on Tuesday.

Bashir arrived in China from Iran, where he attended a counter-terrorism summit which also included the leaders of Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq and Tajikistan.

New York-based Human Rights Watch described Bashir's trip as "an affront to victims of heinous crimes committed in Darfur" and had urged Beijing to arrest Bashir on arrival.

Amnesty International said earlier this month that China risked becoming a "safe haven for alleged perpetrators of genocide" if it hosted Bashir.

Topics expected to come up in Bashir's talks with Hu include Chinese aid to Sudan and problems in Abyei, a disputed border area claimed both by Bashir's Khartoum-based northern Sudan regime and the rival government in the south.

The United Nations Security Council voted unanimously on Monday to send a 4,200-strong Ethiopian peacekeeping force to Abyei in a bid to douse tensions.

An estimated two million people died in Sudan's two-decade civil war.

A 2005 peace accord, the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, ended the conflict and allowed for a referendum in January in which the south voted by an overwhelming majority to split from the north.

Abyei did not take part in the referendum because the two sides could not agree who should be eligible to vote.

Fighting is also flaring in South Kordofan, which borders Abyei.

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