Malawi refuses to arrest Sudan president

The Malawian government has rejected calls to arrest Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, who is in Lilongwe for a trade summit. Malawian Information Minister Patricia Kaliati said it was not her government's "business" to arrest Bashir, who is wanted for war crimes in Sudan's Darfur region, the BBC reported. "He's coming for business and we don't have any business to do with the arrest of President Omar," Kaliati said. The International Criminal Court issued a warrant for Bashir's arrest in 2008. The European Union has urged Malawi to arrest the Sudanese president. "Genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes must not go unpunished and their prosecution must be ensured by measures at both domestic and international level," EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said. Bashir, the first African head of state indicted by the ICC, denies the allegations of war crimes and genocide in Darfur, saying the ICC is controlled by western countries hostile toward Sudan. The United Nations said about 300,000 people have died in Darfur, mostly from disease.