Sudan protests to US over blocked visa for President Bashir

Sudanese media are reporting that the Foreign Ministry has summoned the US 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 UN 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 US refusal was a "blatant violation of its commitments as a host country" of the UN

Washington has made it clear it doesn't want al-Bashir in New York. A US official said on Friday the visa application was still pending.

Sudan current faces major protests against al-Bashir's rule.

AP