Johannesburg, Jun 16 (IANS): The African Union pledged to fulfill "Agenda 2063", a blue print for future development of the continent, as the 25th session of the summit ended early Tuesday.

The two-day summit in South African city of Johannesburg saw African heads of state and the government discussing Agenda 2063, women empowerment, the political crisis in Burundi, and ways to fund AU operations, reported Xinhua news agency.

The summit was, however, overshadowed by the participation of Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir who is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for alleged war crimes.

South Africa, being an ICC member, has an obligation to arrest him and hand him over to the ICC who issued an arrest warrant to detain al-Bashir.

Al-Bashir left South Africa on Monday before the summit ended.

South Africa has been under fire for not arresting al-Bashir. AU Commission Chairwoman Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma defended the decision to invite al-Bashir to attend the summit.

"Sudan is a member of the AU and has always attended AU summits," Dlamini-Zuma said.