Bashir: Sudan to fight 'neocolonialism'

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(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-03-08 20:00

FASHIR, Sudan -- The Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir said Sunday in Fashir, capital city of North Darfur state, that the country will fight against "neocolonialism".

"We will fight against the neocolonialism," al-Bashir made the remarks while addressing a rally attended by tens of thousands of local residents on a square at the city center, referring to the International Criminal Court's (ICC) campaign that has dogged the president since last July.

"We will not allow anyone to undermine the peace, independence and unity of Sudan," he continued, saying that "we have liberated the Africa, but the Western colonialists want to return to Sudan at the moment."

He also reiterated that Sudan rejects the ICC's arrest warrant because the country is not a member of the Rome Statute on which the court is based.

"Why does the ICC turn a blind eye to the criminals that have slaughtered millions of people?" he said, "Where is the justice, where is the international justice?"

According to the Rome Statute, the ICC, founded in 2002, has no retrospective jurisdiction.

Holding banners and pictures of the president, representatives of local political parties, legislature and mass organizations delivered anti-ICC speeches and chanted "Down, down ICC!" and "Down, down Ocampo!" in support of the embattled president.

Meanwhile, representatives of local tribes presented an innocent certificate to Bashir.

"I side with President al-Bashir at the critical moment, "MinniArkou Minawi, former rebel leader of the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA)-Minawi faction said.

In May 2006, the Sudanese government signed the Darfur Peace Agreement with Minawi faction of the Sudan Liberation Army in Nigeria's capital of Abuja, but the deal was rejected by other Darfuri oppositions.

"The ICC murdered the international justice by issuing an arrest warrant against Bashir," said Yousef Kiber, governor of the North Darfur state, expressing that the Darfuris would support the president to cope with the ICC.

The president, accompanied by central government officials, diplomats and about 10 foreign reporters, arrived Sunday morning at the Fashir Airport on board a chartered airplane.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Hague-based ICC issued an arrest warrant against Bashir for war crimes and crimes against humanity in the country's restive western region of Darfur between 2003 and2008.

Sudan has rejected the ICC's jurisdiction since the court's prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo launched a campaign against Bashir in July, saying that it is not a signatory of the Rome Statute.

The UN said that the Sudanese government has expelled 13 NGOs, which aid some 4.7 million people in Darfur, accusing them of collaborating with the ICC.

Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa, the first chief of international organizations to visit the country since ICC issued the warrant, said Saturday that the remaining NGOs would stay in Darfur to continue humanitary operations, noting that "what has happened is happened, and the NGOs that were not expelled would stay in Darfur to carry out their missions."