Breaking News: Sudan’s Omar al-Bashir’s plane ‘flies out of South Africa’

It is not known whether the Sudanese president – wanted by the International Criminal Court – was on the plane, which may have left without him on board.

 Omar al-Bashir’s plane has left South Africa’s main military base, Waterkloof air force base in Pretoria, according to local reports.

 There were suggestions that Mr Bashir was on board but this has not been confirmed. Mr Bashir is wanted for alleged war crimes by the International Criminal Court (ICC), who called on South Africa to arrest him when he arrived in the country for the African Union summit on Saturday night.

 Human rights groups went to the Pretoria High Court after he arrived to ask for Mr Bashir to be arrested under South Africa’s obligations as a signatory to the ICC.

 Judge Hans Fabricius issued an interim order that the Sudanese president should not leave the country until he made a decision on the case, which was likely to come on Monday.

 Journalists watching the base, South Africa’s main hub for visiting VIPs, confirmed Mr Bashir’s jet took off around 11am BST after a large convoy of 10 vehicles accompanied by traffic and general police drove onto the tarmac.

 If Mr Bashir was onboard when the plane left South African air base, his departure was allowed by the authorities.

 William Mokhari, the state lawyer, confirmed that the head of AFB Waterkloof was notified of the interim order blocking Mr al-Bashir from leaving the country until the Pretoria high court made a final ruling on whether he should be arrested.

 He said that since the reported departure from Waterkloof, his legal team was making urgent inquiries about Mr Bashir’s whereabouts.

 Mr Mokhari said the Sudanese president’s empty seat at the African Union summit in Sandton, Johannesburg, did not necessarily mean he had left.

“He could be taking a break in his hotel room or doing shopping,” he said.

 South African officials at the AU event briefed journalists that Mr Bashir’s departure in contravention of the court order was preferable to the implications of South Africa being ordered to arrest the sitting head of state were the court to find the ICC warrant valid.

 Clayson Monyela, South Africa’s foreign affairs spokesman, has refused to respond to calls about the issue.