On 3 July 2009, at the African Union (AU) summit that took place in Sirte, Libya, Heads of States agreed to support Al-Bashir, only a few months after the ICC had issued a warrant for his arrest. In their decision, AU Heads of States refused to cooperate with the Court, criticised the inopposability of the right to immunity before the ICC and solicited the UNSC to apply Article 16 of the ICC Statute to suspend the proceedings against al-Bashir.