(VOVworld) - Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir still attended at the opening ceremony of the African Union summit in Johannesburg on Sunday amid rumors that he was barred from leaving Sudan after the International Criminal Court (ICC) called for his arrest.  

Omar al-Bashir lines up with Congo's Denis Sasso-Nguesso and and Abdelkader Taleb Oumar of the Sahrawi Arab Republic at the African Union Summit in Sandton, South Africa on June 14, 2015 (AFP Photo/Gianluigi Guercia)

Sudan’s Foreign Minister Kamal Ismail told reporters that President Bashir will continue to attend the summit and will return after its plenary meeting.

The ICC indicted Bashir in 2009 for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide in suppressing the Darfur revolt in 2003.