Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, the sole sitting head of state wanted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court (ICC), was sworn in on Thursday after his re-election in voting marred by boycotts.
Mr Bashir, who rejects charges of ordering mass murder, rape and torture in western Darfur, is due to preside over a January referendum on secession for south Sudan, which many analysts believe will bring the oil-producing region independence.
Wearing a flowing white robe and white head-dress, Mr Bashir welcomed heads of at least five African states attending the ceremony, including Mauritania, Chad and Djibouti.
“This phase will mark a fresh start,” Mr Bashir told a packed Parliament hall. “No return to war, and there will be no place for undermining security and stability,” he said. But the pomp and circumstance honouring the controversial leader, especially as tensions persist between Khartoum and the semi-autonomous south and fighting continues in Darfur, put European diplomats and UN officials in a quandary.
The EU supports ICC efforts to bring Mr Bashir to justice but is also keen to maintain dialogue to ensure the referendum does not trigger a renewal of Sudan’s decades-long civil war.