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The View from Sudanese Gov.
By Tom Evans; Sr. Writer, AMANPOUR.
Sudan will never comply with a warrant from the International Criminal Court (ICC) to hand over President Omar al-Bashir to face charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity, Sudan's ambassador to the United Nations told CNN's Christiane Amanpour on Tuesday.
"That would never happen," Abdalmahmood Abdalhaleem Mohamad told Amanpour in a program to be aired Wednesday. "And the United States itself is not a member of the ICC. Let the government of the U.S. join the ICC."
Mohamad strongly defended al-Bashir - the first sitting head of state to be indicted by the ICC - saying he is one of the best leaders in Africa. "He put an end to the longest civil war in Africa. The Security Council of the U.N. itself recognized and commended our president. He cannot overnight be a criminal, a war criminal."
Mohamad's remarks came amid rising concern the 2005 agreement that ended the north-south civil war in Sudan, which cost 2 million lives over two decades, is in danger of collapsing. Both sides are accusing each other of fraud and dishonesty ahead of national elections next year and a referendum on possible independence for the south in 2011.
There has also been an upsurge of violence in the oil-rich southern region even though the area is nominally at peace. There have been more violent deaths in autonomous Southern Sudan so far this year - more than 2,000 - than in the much better-known Darfur conflict in western Sudan.
The Sudanese ambassador strongly criticized American lawmakers such as Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kansas, for asking pointed questions of the U.S. Special Envoy to Sudan, former Air Force Gen. Scott Gration, about whether or not Khartoum is conducting an ongoing genocide.
"What is going on in the United States is really amazing," Mohamad said. "He (Gration) is standing like a student listening to war-mongers telling him what to do in Sudan. We call for engagement, not confrontation."
Mohamad also blasted critics of the Sudanese government's arrest of three prominent Southern Sudan political leaders earlier this week. They were later released. Those arrests prompted demonstrations in Khartoum and other parts of the country, a strongly worded protest by the U.S. State Department on Tuesday, and outrage from the former rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM).
The State Department said, "We condemn all acts of violence in Sudan and call for restraint and dialogue among all parties. We will continue to monitor the situation very closely."
Gration said, "I am deeply concerned about these developments and urge all parties to exercise restraint. Negotiations on issues of urgent importance to all of the Sudanese people cannot proceed in an atmosphere of intimidation."
The SPLM's representative in Washington, Ezekiel Gatrouth, told the "Amanpour" program, "If this continues, we will not have free and fair elections in Sudan next year". He accused police of beating people who were peacefully demonstrating their concerns.
Mohamad rejected any criticism. "It is a very simple issue - an unlawful demonstration in which the government asked the organizers to seek permission," he said. "This happens everywhere in the world, here in the U.S., the UK, in Europe, Africa, and elsewhere."
Mohammad said it's an "over-exaggeration" to suggest that the central government is targeting Southern Sudan and its leaders. But he added that Khartoum does not want the country to break apart. "Our priority, in accordance with the (peace) agreement, is unity of the country."
He said the idea that the south may vote to secede in 2011 is only a "hypothetical question."
"I think nobody is giving the territorial integrity of a country in a silver plate to anybody," Mohammad said, adding, "This is not only a concern of Sudan, it is a concern of Africa. And the international community cannot afford another failed state in the region."
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What do you think of what Abdalmahmood Abdalhaleem Mohamad told the AMANPOUR. staff in the webcast video?
@camanpour on Twitter
I have to agree with the ambassador since the U.S. is not a member of the ICC and as such lacks any moral grounding for its insistence that Bashir should hand himself to the court. If the U.S. were serious about this it would join the ICC then push such leaders to be brought to justice. Ocampo's issuance of the warrant does nothing other than embolden Bashir to spit on his face and the U.S.'s face as well by travelling to countries that would offer him a safe haven at the behest of the very people ICC and the U..S claims to be protecting. Furthermore the grilling of the special envoy in congress was rather redundant since the u.N. itself stated that there was no Genocide in Sudan but rather crimes against humanity and it was Bush the declared Genocide, thus who are we to trust the U.N. or Bush; in addition who was the congressman quoting and where does he get his sources. This blanket statement and blatant attempt to box the violence in Sudan as Genocidal is, in my opinion, another way through which congress drags its feet in the Sudan issue while claiming it does not want to deal with the current government. Well if thats the government in power does that mean that congress will never deal with it, thus does that imply that the people in Sudan will keep on dying because of this. Its time for everyone to wake up and think of ways to help Sudan and not engage in mudslinging contests in the battle to attain a higher moral ground!
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