Bashir offers peace, aid in defiant Darfur tour

KHARTOUM – Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, in a show of defiance, made his first visit to Darfur yesterday since the International Criminal Court prosecutor accused him of genocide and war crimes and sought his arrest.

Dancing to traditional music and chanting Islamic slogans, Bashir addressed thousands of Darfuris in the regional capital el-Fasher, his promises of development and peace drawing cheers from onlookers who surged forward to get closer to him. “We all know that injustices happened (here),” he said, in a speech broadcast live on state television.”But from day one we have been working to provide stability for all the people of Darfur.”We want to send this message to the world: we are the people of peace, we want peace …we are the only ones who can achieve peace in Darfur.”Bashir will visit all three Darfur states in his two-day tour.Promising more schools, universities, water projects and roads, Bashir said Darfur would also soon be connected to the national electricity grid, ending constant problems with power blackouts.Mostly non-Arab rebels took up arms in the remote western region in early 2003, accusing the government of neglect.To quell the revolt, Khartoum mobilised mostly Arab militias who are accused of atrocities including widespread rape, murder and looting.International experts estimate some 200 000 people have died and 2,5 million have had to flee their homes during the Darfur conflict, sparking the world’s largest humanitarian operation.Bashir described the prosecutor’s request for an ICC arrest warrant for him over Darfur as a foreign conspiracy: “They are trying to confuse us …They want to send us right back to square one.””But Ocampo’s words will not stop us from our work,” he added, referring to ICC Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo.Bashir has reacted to the ICC move not with violence, as the United Nations feared he might, but by forming a united front with opposition parties, seeking regional support and insisting he is ready for Darfur peace talks.He has pledged to continue implementing a north-south peace deal, and signed a landmark election law hours after the ICC announcement on July 14.Aid agencies have worried about longer-term insecurity in Darfur.Late on Tuesday the joint UN-African Union peacekeeping force (Unamid) in Darfur said Sudanese military had detained and beaten a UN security officer who was now recovering in hospital in el-Fasher, the third attack on the force in two weeks.”Although this could be said to be an isolated incident, Unamid condemns in the strongest terms such attacks on its staff members,” the statement said.South Sudanese President Salva Kiir, who is also the number two in the national government, urged the ICC on Tuesday to delay issuing a warrant for Bashir.- Nampa-Reuters AU to ask UN to defer action on al-Bashir ADDIS ABABA – The African Union will ask the United Nations Security Council to suspend action for a year on the indictment of Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir on Darfur genocide charges, Nigeria’s foreign affairs minister said on Monday.The African Union will make the request in an effort to allow progress in slow-moving negotiations to end the five-year-old conflict in Darfur, Nigerian Foreign Affairs Ojo Maduekwe told journalists.He spoke after an emergency meeting of the African Union’s Peace and Security Council, held to discuss the International Criminal Court’s July 14 indictment of al-Bashir on charges of genocide and rape in Darfur.Nampa-AP”We all know that injustices happened (here),” he said, in a speech broadcast live on state television.”But from day one we have been working to provide stability for all the people of Darfur.”We want to send this message to the world: we are the people of peace, we want peace …we are the only ones who can achieve peace in Darfur.”Bashir will visit all three Darfur states in his two-day tour.Promising more schools, universities, water projects and roads, Bashir said Darfur would also soon be connected to the national electricity grid, ending constant problems with power blackouts.Mostly non-Arab rebels took up arms in the remote western region in early 2003, accusing the government of neglect.To quell the revolt, Khartoum mobilised mostly Arab militias who are accused of atrocities including widespread rape, murder and looting.International experts estimate some 200 000 people have died and 2,5 million have had to flee their homes during the Darfur conflict, sparking the world’s largest humanitarian operation.Bashir described the prosecutor’s request for an ICC arrest warrant for him over Darfur as a foreign conspiracy: “They are trying to confuse us …They want to send us right back to square one.””But Ocampo’s words will not stop us from our work,” he added, referring to ICC Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo.Bashir has reacted to the ICC move not with violence, as the United Nations feared he might, but by forming a united front with opposition parties, seeking regional support and insisting he is ready for Darfur peace talks.He has pledged to continue implementing a north-south peace deal, and signed a landmark election law hours after the ICC announcement on July 14.Aid agencies have worried about longer-term insecurity in Darfur.Late on Tuesday the joint UN-African Union peacekeeping force (Unamid) in Darfur said Sudanese military had detained and beaten a UN security officer who was now recovering in hospital in el-Fasher, the third attack on the force in two weeks.”Although this could be said to be an isolated incident, Unamid condemns in the strongest terms such attacks on its staff members,” the statement said.South Sudanese President Salva Kiir, who is also the number two in the national government, urged the ICC on Tuesday to delay issuing a warrant for Bashir.- Nampa-Reuters AU to ask UN to defer action on al-Bashir ADDIS ABABA – The African Union will ask the United Nations Security Council to suspend action for a year on the indictment of Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir on Darfur genocide charges, Nigeria’s foreign affairs minister said on Monday.The African Union will make the request in an effort to allow progress in slow-moving negotiations to end the five-year-old conflict in Darfur, Nigerian Foreign Affairs Ojo Maduekwe told journalists.He spoke after an emergency meeting of the African Union’s Peace and Security Council, held to discuss the International Criminal Court’s July 14 indictment of al-Bashir on charges of genocide and rape in Darfur.Nampa-AP