Sudan's Bashir, minister dance after ICC warrant
KHARTOUM, Sudan — Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir danced on Saturday
with his defence minister at a rally for paramilitary troops two days
after the International Criminal Court issued a warrant for the latter's
arrest
.
"We will start a major campaign to face the enemies of
God and the state," Defence Minister Abdelrahim Mohammed Hussein told
more than 1,000 members of the People's Defence Force (PDF), formed
during the country's 22-year civil war.
The rally, designed to
showcase the PDF's fighting readiness, was the first of its kind since
the 2005 peace deal that ended the civil war and led to South Sudan's
independence last July after an overwhelming vote to separate.
It
came as analysts and diplomats warn that escalating tensions between the
two countries threaten to erupt into direct conflict.
Bashir and
Hussein, both in military uniform, danced together to a PDF rallying
song after the president announced an expansion of the PDF forces.
"We will call these troops a 'deterrence force'," Bashir said at a Khartoum football stadium.
He said he was ordering all state governors to open training camps for fresh PDF recruits.
Each
state is to form one brigade, with an additional seven coming from the
capital Khartoum, the president said after rifle-toting male and female
members of the militia staged a march-past.
The new recruits will "beat anyone who tries to disturb the security of Sudan," Bashir vowed.
On
Thursday The Hague-based International Criminal Court said it had
issued an arrest warrant for Hussein, covering crimes against the
civilian population in Darfur, in Sudan's western region.
"We want to say to them: we will defend the dignity of Sudan" and its Islamist regime, Bashir responded.
Hussein,
60, is the sixth person sought by the ICC or before the court for
crimes committed in Darfur, where rebel groups drawn from the region's
non-Arab tribes rose up against the Arab-dominated Khartoum government
in 2003.
Among those being sought is Bashir himself.
The
court's chief prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, said in December when he
asked for the warrant against Hussein that it would cover crimes against
humanity and war crimes committed in Darfur from August 2003 to March
2004.
Hussein, who was interior minister from 2001 to 2005 and
also Bashir's special representative for Darfur from 2003 to 2004, is
wanted for allegedly coordinating attacks against civilians in villages
of west Darfur.
Sudan's foreign ministry said the warrant against Hussein means "nothing" and Khartoum does not care about the decision.
At the rally, Bashir also responded to comments on Wednesday by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
She
accused him of trying to undermine the new South Sudan, and added that
Washington would consider increasing pressure on Bashir to reverse
course.
Sudan has been under US economic sanctions since 1997.
"The
Americans always said they will treat Sudan with a carrot and stick. We
want to say to them: we don't want their carrot because their roots are
poisoned and nasty. And we don't fear their stick."
On Thursday
South Sudan alleged Sudanese MiG warplanes bombed oil and water wells 74
kilometres (46 miles) inside its frontier while ground troops moved 17
kilometres into oil-rich Unity State.
Khartoum denied the claims,
but the US expressed alarm. It called such incidents "unacceptable," and
said they threaten to raise tensions between the two states.
ليست هناك تعليقات:
إرسال تعليق