UN leader Ban Ki-moon wants Sudan's president to answer war crimes charges, a spokesman says as controversy mounts over Omar al-Bashir's bid to attend a UN summit.
Bashir, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for genocide in Darfur, has embarrassed the US government and United Nations by seeking a visa to enter the United States to attend the annual UN General Assembly next week.
The US opposes Bashir attending the annual meeting, but it has refused to say whether it can or will block the Sudanese leader.
The United Nations is letting the US authorities take the lead while indicating Bashir's presence would be a problem.
"The question of whether the United States is to grant President Bashir a visa to allow him to attend the general debate is, first and foremost, a matter for the United States to determine consistent with the applicable rules of international law," said UN spokesman Martin Nesirky on Tuesday.
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"President Bashir is subject to an arrest warrant issued by the ICC. The secretary general would therefore urge him to cooperate fully with the ICC," the spokesman added.
The United States has given a similar message.
"Such a trip would be deplorable, cynical and hugely inappropriate," the US ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power, said Monday.
She added "it would be more appropriate for him to present himself to the ICC and travel to The Hague."
The ICC issued arrest warrants for the Sudanese president arrest in March 2009 and July 2010 and he now faces 10 counts of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide in the decade-old Darfur conflict.
The United States does not participate in the court but is a strong supporter.
The UN headquarters in New York is extra-territorial but Sudanese citizens would need a visa to enter the United States to get there.
