Sudanese expatriates join in condemning ICC

Riyadh: Several prominent figures representing the Sudanese expatriate community in Saudi Arabia expressed their utter dismay and outrage at the decision of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to issue an arrest warrant for President Omar Al Bashir on charges of crimes against humanity and war crimes in the Darfur region.

Speaking to Gulf News, they said that the people of Sudan reject outright the ICC decision as they see it "as a well-orchestrated Western plot against the Sudanese leader originating from a court of white men on the basis of unfounded accusations made by ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo".

In a defiant tone, they challenged the ICC and asked whether it has the courage even to think about taking similar action against the Israelis, Americans and Europeans, who they said had committed grave war crimes.

Ahmad Yousuf, minister commissioner and charge de affaires at the Sudanese embassy in Riyadh, commented that the ICC decision would be ignored, as had happened in several other similar cases. He noted that the Arabs and Africans were united in rejecting the decision of the court.

"The efforts made by the ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo, which resulted in issuing the warrant, were nothing more than carrying out a political campaign of the Western countries and Israel, which earlier accorded a warm reception to the rebel leader of Darfur, Abdul Wahid Mohammad Nur," he said.

Yousuf expressed happiness over the support shown by Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries to Sudan in rejecting the biased move by the ICC. He also noted that Russia and China, permanent members of the UN Security Council, expressed their opposition to any attempt to prosecute the Sudanese leader.

He criticised the position of the Obama administration, which is against putting off implementation of the ICC decision.

"Sudan will spare no efforts to resist the decision at all levels.

"On the media front, we will exert all efforts to highlight the unjust, illegal and biased decision of the ICC. The people of Sudan will continue to express their anger and outrage by holding demonstrations to protest and reject the ICC decision over the coming days," Yousuf added.

On his part, Dr Omar Al Asam, a Sudanese academic based in Riyadh, told Gulf News that the Western colonial powers are using the ICC to impose their will on Sudan and to humiliate its leaders and people with the ulterior motive of taking possession of its natural resources, especially oil.

"The United States, which has long had strained relations with Khartoum, is in the forefront of the ongoing attempt to destabilise the country," he said.

Al Asam noted that the court had ignored the grave war crimes committed by Israel in Gaza, as well as those perpetrated by former US president George W. Bush in Iraq, Afghanistan and other countries.

While denouncing the ICC decision, Dr Salah Humeida, head of the National Conference Party office in Riyadh, described it as a blatant violation of international law and of Sudan's sovereignty as an independent nation.

"The hostile attitude of the ICC toward Sudan forms part of its blackmail tactics and mounting pressure to bring [the country] under [Western] control," he said, adding that the recently revealed findings of studies on Sudan's huge reserves of oil was a major factor behind the move.

Humeida said the ICC decision would be a serious setback to the ongoing efforts to establish peace in the restive western region of Darfur.

"The challenge raised by the ICC will not be the first or the last. The Sudanese people will stand united in effectively countering these challenges.

"This will be achieved through realising the vision of President Omar Al Bashir in achieving more development and progress in the country," he said.