Sudan vowed Wednesday it would not work with the International Criminal Court (ICC) as thousands of protesters massed in Khartoum to protest at the arrest warrant against President Omar Al-Beshir. The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Al-Beshir Wednesday for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur. The court said it did not find sufficient grounds to include the count of genocide in Al-Beshir's arrest warrant, but indicted him on seven counts for war crimes, crimes against humanity, murder, forcible displacement and other crimes. Security was beefed up around foreign embassies amid fear of reprisals by Al-Beshir supporters, while diplomats urged expatriates to avoid public places and stock up on essential supplies. “This decision comes within the context of the foreign powers that seek to undermine the stability of Sudan,” Al-Bashir's foreign policy adviser Mustafa Osman Ismail told state television shortly after the court announced its decision. “It is one of the tools of the new colonization” of Sudan, he added. Ismail said Sudan's ruling council will meet Wednesday evening to decide what action the government will take. The Arab League said it would send a delegation with the African Union to the United Nations to try to suspend the international arrest warrant against Al-Beshir. The two bodies will “send a high ranking joint Arab and African delegation to the UN Security Council to delay the proceedings of the International Criminal Court,” a statement from the pan-Arab body said. The Arab League said it was “greatly disturbed” by the ICC decision to seek the arrest of Al-Beshir. Arab League chief Amr Moussa, reading a statement issued by the 22-member group after an emergency meeting, said it was “dismayed that the UN Security Council did not delay the court proceedings.” “This is a grave development,” he said, adding that the Arab League supported Sudan's sovereignty and immunity for heads of state. Egypt has also called on the Security Council to hold an emergency meeting to delay the warrant. In Khartoum, banner-waving crowds massed on the banks of the Nile, chanting “We love you President Beshir.” “We will protect President Beshir with every drop of our blood,” chanted another group of demonstrators near Khartoum university. One demonstrator, Fakri Osman, charged the West with hypocrisy, saying it had “two weights, two measures.” “We want a Sudanese solution to a Sudanese problem,” he said. Ahead of the announcement, the Sudanese army broadcast a stark warning on state radio against anyone trying to exploit the court's decision. “The armed forces will firmly deal with whoever cooperates with the so-called International Criminal Court, and uses it as a platform for political blackmail and for destabilising the security and stability of the country,” spokesman Osman Al-Aghbash said. Embassies asked their citizens to stay inside for fear of hostile protests. “As a precaution in case of demonstrations which might inhibit movement, you are advised to maintain several days' stock of food and water,” the British mission said.
