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Sudan's Bashir will not attend OIC summit-Turk officials

Sun Nov 8, 2009 11:15am EST

ISTANBUL, Nov 8 (Reuters) - Sudan's indicted President Omar Hassan al-Bashir will not attend an Islamic summit in Istanbul as planned, Turkish government officials said on Sunday, after the European Union raised objections to his visit.

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Bashir, for whom an international arrest warrant has been issued for crimes against humanity in Sudan's Darfur region, had announced plans to attend a meeting of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) on Monday.

"We have learned that he is not coming," a Turkish government official told Reuters on condition of anonymity, without elaborating.

Predominantly Muslim Turkey, which is seeking EU membership, had come under pressure from Brussels and international human rights groups to drop Bashir from the guest list. (Reporting by Zerin Elci; Writing by Ibon Villelabeitia; Editing by Charles Dick)

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