Sudanese President's flight to China turns back

A plane carrying Sudan's President to China was forced to turn back yesterday over Turkmenistan, delaying the scheduled visit of Omar al-Bashir, who has an outstanding international arrest warrant against him on war crimes charges.

The delay forced the rescheduling of a meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao. The reasons the plane was redirected were not fully explained. The website of the France-based Sudan Tribune cited unnamed sources as saying the plane's flight path was abandoned after it was "deemed risky".