Sudan vows to continue with development, debunks ICC charge

Sudan president Omar al-Bashir dismissed the International Criminal Court's (ICC) proceedings against him as worthless and vowed to continue the development process in the country.

At a meeting held with leaders of Sudanese political forces, Bashir said the ICC decision would not affect the work of his government. He also pledged to pursue the Doha talks for peace in Darfur with JEM rebels.

The Hague-based court issued an arrest warrant against Bashir on Wednesday for war crimes and crimes against humanity. It was the first such warrant ever lodged against a sitting head of state.

Bashir also called for establishing a new international front against the neo-colonial policy. He attacked the genocide committed by the British and other empires in Africa including the slave trade, the US attack on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Vietnam War, the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq, the Israeli war against Lebanon and Gaza, and said that all these constitute war crimes.

He added that the perpetrators of these crimes come now to try the Africans. He said that the road to the invasion of Iraq was paved with lies and that the allegations raised by the ICC are just similar lies.

Senior leaders of Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah also offered international support on Friday to Bashir after he was charged with war crimes, a sign that the bid to prosecute him could sharply radicalise his regime.

Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani said the ICC's arrest warrant for the Sudanese leader is an 'insult'.

Larijani spoke after landing Friday in Sudan's capital, Khartoum.

Earlier, a string of African and Arab states and China had called for the suspension of the ICC's warrant, warning it could undermine efforts to end the conflict in the Darfur region.

Thousands protest in Khartoum
After Friday prayers, thousands of people spilled in to the street condemning the US and western powers, and chanting slogans supporting their president in Khartoum. They are waving banners and shouting: ''With our blood and soul, we defend you, Bashir.''

It was the third day of demonstrations after the Hague-based court announced it was indicting Bashir on seven counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including murder, rape and torture.

Up to 2,000 people massed outside the headquarters of the European Commission in Khartoum and hundreds of others were seen gathering outside mosques in other parts of the city.

Meanwhile, Sudan told as many as 10 major foreign humanitarian groups to leave Darfur, and seized the agencies' assets.

According to UN deputy spokeswoman Marie Okabe, the aid groups include Oxfam, Medecins Sans Frontier (Doctors Without Borders), Save the Children, Solidarities and Mercy Corps. The exact number of groups involved was not given and some groups were not identified, both to protect their people on the ground in Sudan.

She called the aid agencies who had been kicked out 'the main providers of life-saving humanitarian services, such, as water, food, health, and sanitation'.

''Their departure will have an immediate and serious impact on the humanitarian and security situation in North Sudan, (and) especially in Darfur."

Penny Lawrence, Oxfam's international director, said the ban will affect more than 600,000 Sudanese people whom they provide with vital humanitarian and development aid, including clean water and sanitation on a daily basis.

She said 400,000 people were still directly affected by the conflict in Darfur where people continue to flee from violence.

However, the head of Sudan's state humanitarian aid commission, Hassabo Mohamed Abd el-Rahman, said civilians will not be affected as the work of the expelled agencies will be taken up by the government and remaining humanitarian groups.

Rebels demand Bashir's arrest
Darfur rebel chief Abdel Wahid Mohammed Nur urged world powers on Friday to uphold the ICC arrest warrant for Bashir.

Nur leads a faction of the Sudan Liberation Movement that has been fighting the Khartoum government since civil war broke out in 2003.

However, experts say there is little immediate chance that Bashir, 65, will appear in The Hague to answer the charges.

Sudan has not ratified the ICC's founding Rome Statute and has no legal requirement to hand its president over to the court.

Four of Sudan's nine neighbours are similarly not parties to the court, and nor are Bashir's key allies in China or the Middle East.

As many as 300,000 people have died since the Sudanese military and its proxy forces, including the feared Janjaweed militias, sought to put down the rebellion of black African Darfuris.

In January, a meeting of executives of the African Union had called for a 12-month suspension of efforts to arrest Bashir, claiming his detention would derail the peace process in the country.

"The African Union has requested the UN security council to suspend the ICC (International Criminal Court) indictment against the president," said Jean Ping, chairperson of the African Union Commission, in the opening of the 14th ordinary session of the executive council.

The international court, which embraces 108 member countries, accuses Bashir of masterminding and implementing a plan to destroy in substantial part the Fur, Masalit, and Zaghawa groups during a campaign of ethnic persecution in the Darfur region.