INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT ISSUES ARREST WARRANT AGAINST SUDANESE PRESIDENT

A warrant was issued against the president of Sudan, Omar al Bashir for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur.

Bashir dismissed the allegations made by the ICC, claiming them to be part of western conspiracy.

The warrant is the first issued by the Hague-based court against a sitting head of state since it was set up in 2002.

Sudan immediately rejected the decision of the three-judge panel describing it "neo-colonialism".

"They do not want Sudan ... to become stable," Mustafa Osman Ismail, an advisor to the Sudanese president, said.

"The court is only one mechanism of neo-colonialist policy used by the West against free and independent countries."

Hundreds of Sudanese took to the streets of the capital, Khartoum, to protest against the arrest warrant. The country's ruling party said a "million man march" was planned for Thursday.

The court said it did not find sufficient grounds to include the count of genocide in Bashir's arrest warrant, but indicted Bashir on seven counts for war crimes, crimes against humanity, murder, forcible displacement and other crimes.

"It is a flawed decision," said Sudanese presidential spokesman Mahjoub Fadul. "We do not recognise it, nor the court that issued it and we do not care about it at all."

China, the African Union and the Arab League say an indictment could destabilise the region, worsen the Darfur conflict and threaten a troubled peace deal between north Sudan and the semi-autonomous south.

The court said its decision on Wednesday not to include a genocide charge could change "if additional evidence is gathered by the prosecution".

Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit called on the U.N. Security Council to suspend Bashir's arrest warrant, but Libyan envoy Ibrahim Dabbashi said before the ICC announcement there were no plans for an immediate council meeting.

The UNSC has the power to suspend ICC proceedings for up to one year at a time.

So what are your opinions about the matter?
Do you think the Sudanese President is guilty or is it just a neo-colonial tactic??

he is as guilty as hell
the atrocities he and his government have commited against the non-Arabs are mindblowing.
this excuse of neo-colonialism is from countries who fear their oil supplies would be jeopardised if they didnt side with the oil rich sudan.

So he is not a president after all?Is all he is is nothing but a dictator?