Thousands of protesters chanting “Down, Down USA!” rallied in Khartoum Sunday after reports that the International Criminal Court (ICC) may seek the arrest of Sudan's president for alleged war crimes. A senior European diplomat said on Friday the court's prosecutor was likely to seek the arrest of President Omar Hassan Al-Bashir in a case he will open Monday about war crimes the ICC says were committed in Sudan's Darfur region. “With our souls, with our blood we die for Bashir,” the protesters chanted as they marched through the streets of Khartoum towards the offices of the United Nations. The government-organized protest brought traffic to a standstill. Hundreds of people also gathered near the cabinet office where the government was holding emergency talks. “The ICC does just what the European Union, the United States of America and Israel tell it to do,” the protesters said in a statement to be delivered to the UN offices. Sudanese Justice Minister Abdel Basit Sabderat said the ICC was trying to ignite a fire throughout his country. “(The) ICC is not just targeting the president of the country, but the stability of the Sudanese people because the president represents the nation,” he told the crowd outside the cabinet office. Most of the protesters were government workers or from unions linked to Bashir's dominant National Congress Party (NCP). The demonstration was organized by the NCP's Sudanese Student Union and other government groups.
