The International Criminal Court (ICC) has called on South Africa to arrest Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir on Sunday, as the latter is on a state visit to attend an African Union (AU) conference, according to BBC. 

Instead, however, South African officials warmly welcomed Bashir upon his arrival, local media reported – furthering a reported rift between the AU and the ICC.

Some AU officials have accused the international legal body of unfairly targeting Africans and have asked it to refrain from launching proceedings against leaders currently in office. 

Bashir is wanted for war crimes in Darfur, which has been under conflict since 2003; some 300,000 people have died. 

Bashir has had numerous travel bans issued against him which have curtailed some of his international travel, but has visited several countries in the Middle East and Africa. 

The ICC has no legal force and relies heavily on member states to carry out arrests – making the possibility of South Africa following through unlikely.