Few world leaders are staying away from the Beijing Olympics despite concerns over China’s role in Sudan.
Though human rights groups have waged intense campaigns against China in the run-up to next month’s Games, German Chancellor Angela Merkel is among only a handful of leaders who say they will not attend. A group of rabbis has urged Jewish tourists to stay away.
President Bush, Israeli President Shimon Peres and French President Nicolas Sarkozy are slated to attend the opening ceremonies on Aug. 8. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown is expected for the closing ceremonies.
On Monday, a prosecutor filed an indictment against Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir on charges of genocide.
The same day, the British Broadcasting Corp. claimed that China was training Sudanese pilots and that Chinese military vehicles were found in Darfur, the region in Western Sudan where hundreds of thousands have been killed in what some Western observers describe as a genocide.
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