Darfur Peace and Development

January 14, 2009 (KHARTOUM) — The Sudanese President Omer Hassan Al-Bashir today vowed to resist any attempts forcing Sudan to cooperate with the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Al-Bashir speaking at a rally in the Sudanese capital said that his government is not concerned with the ICC and that they are prepared for any confrontation.

“Let them pass any resolution in the UNSC or ICC . Sudan will not accept it. They can dip it [decisions] in water and drink it” the Sudanese president said sarcastically.

“We are like palm trees. We die standing on our feet” he added.

ICC judges are reviewing ten counts presented by prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo in mid-July that include three counts of genocide, five of crimes against humanity and two of murder and accused Al-Bashir of masterminding a campaign to get rid of the African tribes in Darfur; Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa.

Sudanese officials have acknowledged publicly in the last few weeks that an arrest warrant is “inevitable”.

Al-Bashir also lashed out at Ocampo describing him as someone “who has no morals or manners”.

“The battle is one whether it is in Gaza, Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia and Darfur…We will not bend down to Zionists and international conspiracies” he said.

The Sudanese president has recently been making a number of public appearances in which launched fierce criticism against Western countries accusing them of using the ICC to topple his regime.

Khartoum has lobbied the UN Security Council (UNSC) to invoke Article 16 of the ICC Statute which allows the council to suspend the ICC prosecutions in any case for a period of 12 months that can be renewed indefinitely.

However China, a strong ally of Sudan and one of the UNSC permanent members, said earlier this month that they do not intend to table such a resolution dealing a severe blow to Sudan’s efforts.

Sudan has not ratified the Rome Statute, but the UNSC invoked the provisions under the Statute that enables it to refer situations in non-State parties to the world court if it deems that it is a threat to international peace and security.

(ST)