Estimated read time: Less than a minute
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
KHARTOUM, Sudan (AP) - Sudanese media are reporting that the Foreign Ministry has summoned the U.S. charge d'affaires in Khartoum to protest Washington's failure to grant a visa to the country's president, who faces war crimes charges.
President Omar al-Bashir requested the visa to attend the U.N. General Assembly in New York. The charges are linked to the bloody conflict in the Darfur region.
The semi-official Sudan Media Center on Saturday quoted Foreign Ministry spokesman Abu Bakr Al-Sadek as saying that the U.S. refusal was a "blatant violation of its commitments as a host country" of the U.N.
Washington has made it clear it doesn't want al-Bashir in New York. A U.S. official said Friday the visa application was still pending.
Sudan current faces major protests against al-Bashir's rule.
(Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
