WORLD> Africa
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WORLD> Africa
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Sudan's president says warrant is conspiracy
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-03-05 21:48 KHARTOUM, Sudan – Sudan's president, wanted by an international court on war crimes charges, denounced the tribunal, the UN and aid agencies on Thursday as part of a new "colonialism" that aims to destabilize his country.
Speaking for the first time since the warrant was issued Wednesday, al-Bashir told a Cabinet meeting that those agencies, the UN and the tribunal are "tools of the new colonialism" meant to bring Sudan and its resources under control. Al-Bashir accused the aid organizations of trying to disrupt peace efforts in Darfur, profiting from the conflict and interfering with foreign investment. He said his government ordered them out of Darfur because they violated the law. "We in Sudan have always been a target of the UN and these organizations because we have said, 'No,'" al-Bashir said. "We said the resources of Sudan should go to the people of Sudan." UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called the expulsion order against aid groups "a serious setback to lifesaving operations in Darfur." The aid groups, which included Oxfam, CARE and Save the Children, protested that they had nothing to do with the Netherlands-based ICC's decision Wednesday. In the capital, Khartoum, senior UN officials were meeting with government officials in a last attempt to negotiate a deal to stay. Appearing before tens of thousands of supporters at a Khartoum rally Thursday after the Cabinet meeting, al-Bashir warned international missions and organizations still operating in the country "to respect themselves," saying they would be "humiliated" if they infringe on Sudan's sovereignty. Al-Bashir danced and swayed with the crowd outside his Republican Palace in the biggest demonstration in Sudan in years. The crowd cheered: "Go, go, al-Bashir," and "Khartoum, rise against injustice." "We are ready to resist colonialism," said al-Bashir, jabbing his cane in the air as he spoke. "We are ready to defend our religion." He denounced the leaders of the United States and Europe as the "real criminals ... who are coming up with new lies." "They think we will kneel down to them," he said. "We say, 'No.'" The arrest warrant is the ICC's first against a sitting head of state. Al-Bashir has rejected the charges and his government has said it will not cooperate with the court. UN officials said their staff will continue to deal with al-Bashir in Sudan because he remains the president of the country. Aid workers from the targeted groups said staff were in the process of departing Darfur, while getting clearances from security operatives on the ground. One UN official said the process is taking time in some cases because of security procedures. The workers and official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation. China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang told a news conference Thursday that China backs a call by the African Union and Arab countries to have any prosecution of al-Bashir deferred. "China opposes anything that could disrupt efforts to realize peace in Darfur and in Sudan," he said. Sudanese officials attending an African Union meeting in Ethiopia on Thursday asked AU nations who are party to tribunal to withdraw from the Rome treaty that set up the court in 2002. There was no decision taken on the request at the meeting. Al-Bashir on Thursday made a warning against anyone who tries to help the ICC arrest him. "We will act as a responsible government," he said. "But we will be responsible and firm with anyone who tries to get at the stability, security in the country or whoever uses their position and presence in Sudan to violate the law, stability and security." |
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