Madalitso Kateta, AfricaNews reporter in Blantyre, Malawi
Sudanese president Omar Hassan al-Bashir faces arrest in Malawi if he shows up at the African Union (AU) Heads of state summit scheduled for Lilongwe in July. Malawian president Joyce Banda is reported to have recently assured Britain of al-Bashir's arrest if he shows up for the AU heads of state summit.

British Secretary for International Development, Andrew Mitchell is reported to have told the Nation newspaper that the Malawian head of state assured Britain that al-Bashir who is wanted by the International Criminal Court on counts of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide shall be arrested.
According to the paper, Mitchell said on Friday that Malawi’s position on al-Bashir was logical and had the British support.
“It’s a matter for Malawi, of course, to decide on these issues...Malawi is a state party to the International Criminal Court; therefore, the president is being entirely logical and making it clear that if al-Bashir comes to Malawi he will be arrested, “the paper quotes Mitchell.
According to the paper Malawi is currently following all diplomatic procedures to convince the Sudanese government to send a low ranking delegation to Malawi.
Minister of Justice and Attorney General Ralph Kasambara said Malawi had all the capacity to arrest al-Bashir but it was just trying to follow all the diplomatic procedures to resolve the dilemma.
“We don’t want to be caught in this war fare between International Criminal Court and the African Union position …They might both be legally right, but we think as a sovereign state we have a position to decide who visits Malawi, “the paper quotes Kasambara.
Al-Bashir was last in Malawi in October 2011 during a Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa heads of state meeting and his visit sparked international criticism.
Malawi joins the ranks of South Africa and Zambia who are on record of saying they would arrest al-Bashir if he stepped on their soil.
The Sudanese government has since said Malawi has no right to decide who attends the AU summit and has since indicated that al-Bashir will attend.