New Kenya's Envoy To US Defends Bashir Visit

In a talk in Washington on Tuesday sponsored by the international arm of the US Democratic Party, Kenya's new ambassador to the United States vigorously defended the recent visit to Nairobi by Sudan's indicted president.

Ambassador Elkanah Odembo did not explicitly say why President Omar al-Bashir had been invited to take part in the August 27 constitution promulgation ceremony.

But the envoy justified Kenya's willingness to let him travel unimpeded on the grounds that it conformed with Kenya's interest in promoting stability in neighbouring Sudan.

If Kenya had arrested Mr Bashir, “Sudan would erupt in a civil war that is going to be bigger and more devastating than the civil war [that began] 20 years ago,” Ambassador Odembo declared.

“I'm willing to put my money on it.”

Kenya's envoy, who presented his credentials to President Barack Obama six weeks ago, said “it is certainly important Sudan holds together” until southern Sudan decides in a scheduled January referendum whether to become an independent state.

“I say that as someone who condemns in the strongest possible way the crimes committed against the people of Darfur,” Mr Odembo added.

President Bashir has been charged at the International Criminal Court with war crimes arising from the Sudanese government's actions in the country's Darfur region.

Kenya, as a signatory to the treaty establishing the ICC, is obligated to cooperate with the court.

The country's welcome to Mr Bashir drew criticism from President Obama and from human rights groups.

Ambassador Odembo noted on Tuesday that Kenya is the temporary home to many refugees from Darfur who have offered evidence to ICC prosecutors regarding atrocities in Darfur.

The envoy also said Kenya is playing a crucial role as guarantor of the peace agreement that put an end to the war between north and south Sudan that took an estimated two million lives.

He assured the audience at the National Democratic Institute that Kenya's defiance of the ICC in regard to President Bashir does not suggest that Kenya will refuse to cooperate with the ICC's investigation of those thought responsible for the post-election violence.

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