22 April 2009

Addis Ababa - Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir on Tuesday taunted the international community by arguing that an arrest warrant against him for war crimes had earned him more support than ever.

Bashir made his statement after meeting Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi in Addis Ababa, on his sixth foreign trip since the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued its warrant on March 4.

"For us, the ICC indictment has been positive," Bashir told reporters.

The veteran leader is accused by the Hague-based court of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Sudan's western region of Darfur, where the United Nations says six years of conflict has killed 300 000 people.

The arrest warrant was the court's first against a sitting head of state and was seen as a key step in making world leaders accountable.

But Bashir, who has ruled over Africa's fractious largest country for two decades, suggested the move had enhanced his domestic and regional standing.

"For the internal front in Sudan, we have all seen how the Sudanese people have come out in a spontaneous way to support the president of Sudan," he said.

"We have found a very strong stance from the regional organisations like the Arab League and the African Union," Bashir also said.

No western representatives were at the airport for Bashir's arrival on Tuesday.

A diplomat speaking on condition of anonymity said Western ambassadors and envoys would boycott a state dinner in Bashir's honour after receiving instructions from their capitals not to attend.

But Meles, whose country has often had tense relations with Sudan, stood by his neighbour and said the ICC's landmark decision was "totally unacceptable".

"What was done by the ICC to President Omar al-Bashir is an initiative with great implications not only for the people of Sudan, but also for Africans and for Ethiopia," he said before going into talks with Bashir.

Meles condemned what what he said was the "overpolitisation of the humanitarian issues and the overpolitisation of the international justice".

Beshir has dismissed the notion that the warrant could restrict his travel.

No attempt has been made to arrest him during any of his recent trips, all to countries - Ethiopia included - that were not signatories to the 2002 international convention that created the ICC.

Prior to his Ethiopian visit, Bashir on April 1 travelled to the holy Muslim city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia, where he performed the umrah, or minor pilgrimage.

On March 30, he attended the Arab League summit in Doha, where other Arab leaders formally pledged their support for the indicted leader and condemned the court's actions.

"We stress our solidarity with Sudan and our rejection of the ICC decision against President Omar al-Beshir," the Arab leaders said in the summit's final declaration.

Bashir has also travelled to Egypt and Libya since the warrant was issued but reserved his first trip for Eritrea.

Ethiopia had always made it clear it would ignore calls to arrest Bashir and has led a push by the Addis-based African Union for the United Nations Security Council to defer the indictments. - Sapa-AFP