As a member of the ICC, Zambia would be obliged to arrest Mr Bashir if he attended the meeting for governments of the Great Lakes region next Wednesday. Sudanese media reported that Mr Bashir had “responded positively” to the invitation without confirming he would attend in Lusaka.

The two arrest warrants against Mr Bashir, issued over atrocities in Darfur, have proved controversial in the continent and an African Union summit last July voted not to co-operate with the court. However, several countries have since promised to arrest him if he sets foot on their soil.

Zambia has refused to clarify whether it would do so. A statement published on Tuesday on the website of Rupiah Banda, Zambian president, said it was “premature to start discussing whether ... Zambia will hand over” Mr Bashir, because it had not had confirmation of his attendance.

Obby Chibuluma of Saccord, a Zambian non-governmental organisation, said the invitation showed “a lack of respect for international processes to which this country is a signatory”.

The move would “affect Zambia’s international standing”, he added. “One must look at the principles behind the creation of the ICC. Many wars fought in Africa have been because of leaders who disregarded human rights with impunity.”

Ottilia Anna Maunganidze, a consultant at South Africa’s Institute for Security Studies, said the invitation came as a “shock” but noted a widespread perception in Africa of the ICC as a rich-world organisation interfering in the continent.

While the court has received complaints about events in more than 100 countries since 2002, it has launched five investigations: in Sudan, Kenya, Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Central African Republic.

After the ICC issued its arrest warrant last year, an aide to the president said it was “exactly what we have been expecting from the court, which was created to target Sudan and to be part of the new mechanism of neo-colonialism”.

Mr Bashir was welcomed to Egypt soon after but South Africa, Botswana and Uganda have said they would arrest him.

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