Sudan's envoy: ICC's warrant for Sudanese president manifestation of neo-colonialism
www.chinaview.cn 2009-03-28 16:45:13
BEIJING, March 28 (Xinhua) -- The International Criminal Court (ICC)'s arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir is a manifestation of neo-colonialism, which creates a dangerous precedent, Sudan's presidential envoy Awad Ahmed al-Jaz told Xinhua on Friday.
The arrest warrant for al-Bashir for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur, which was issued on March 4, "did not target the president himself but Sudan as a country that has made major achievement in the peace process on the African continent", the envoy, who is currently on a China tour, said in an interview with Xinhua.
Sudan has ended a long-running north-south civil war, made significant progress on Darfur issue, and pooled its domestic resources for economic construction and the benefit of the Sudanese people, said the envoy.
As a major country on the African continent, Sudan has also received a large number of African refugees, al-Jaz said.
Some international groups have lost their credibility in the world, and thus they attempted to take advantage of the ICC arrest warrant for President al-Bashir to undermine the international reputation of Sudan and create chaos in the country and the African continent at large, the envoy said.
He reaffirmed the Sudanese government's position on the issue, noting that Sudan is not a member of the ICC and therefore the arrest warrant means nothing to his country.
However, the neo-colonialists want to take Sudan as an experimental field -- once Sudan accepts the charge, they would apply similar penalty to the leaders of other countries who they deemed as "unpopular", the Sudanese envoy said.
For this reason, the Sudanese government has firmly rejected the ICC's decision at the very beginning. The Sudanese people have become more united, and the people in the rest of the world have also expressed their support for Sudan, al-Jaz said.
With regard to whether President al-Bashir would attend the Arab leaders' annual summit in Qatar on Monday, the envoy said since the issue of the arrest warrant on March 4, the president has visited several neighboring countries, such as Eritrea, Egypt and Libya.
The purpose of these visits is to boost the peace process, the envoy said, adding that President al-Bashir has also sent a message to the rest of the world that Sudan is an independent country, and its president will defy the ICC warrant to exercise his power normally.
The Sudanese president will schedule his overseas trips on the basis of whether they are in the interest of Sudan and the Sudanese people, al-Jaz stressed.
Referring to U.S. President Barak Obama's recent decision to send a special envoy to Sudan, al-Jaz said the Sudanese government welcomed the Obama administration's move if the envoy comes to develop the bilateral ties.
But he warned that Khartoum would neither allow anyone to interfere in Sudan's internal affairs, nor succumb to orders from outside.
The Sudanese government welcomed President Obama's plans to map out new policies toward the Arab and Islamic nations, and hoped to enhance the mutual understanding between the two sides.
"We welcome any kind of cooperation based on equality, mutual respect and sincerity, so as to create favorable conditions for resolving problems," al-Jaz said.
During his stay in China, the envoy has conveyed a message from President al-Bashir to his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao, in which al-Bashir explained the Sudanese government's position on the ICC's decision and the recent expulsion of 13 non-government groups that operated in Sudan.
The envoy said those groups have been engaged in activities incompatible with their identities, which are beyond their claimed mission of humanitarian assistance.
He also praised the friendly ties with China, noting that the 50-year-old strategic relations between the two countries have been established and developed on the basis of mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit, and have never been affected by the changes in regional and international situation.
The envoy believed such relations will continue in the future, and the cooperation between both countries will also be deepened.
Editor: Wang Yan
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