IRAN, MILITANT GROUPS SUPPORT SUDANESE PRESIDENT

Iran, militant groups support Sudanese president

(International Herald Tribune)

The Associated Press
Published: March 6, 2009

KHARTOUM, Sudan: Senior leaders of Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah offered international support Friday to Sudan's president after he was charged with war crimes in Darfur, a sign that the bid to prosecute him could sharply radicalize his regime

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For a third straight day, President Omar al-Bashir's supporters marched and vowed to defend him against what his government called a "colonial" conspiracy to overthrow him. Hundreds emerged from mosques after Friday prayers, chanting "jihad," or holy war, and shouting, "With our souls and blood, we will sacrifice ourselves for you, al-Bashir."

After the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant Wednesday for al-Bashir, Sudan's government responded by expelling 13 of the largest aid organizations in Darfur.

The U.N. human rights office said in Geneva that it was examining whether the expulsion could itself constitute a war crime.

The order opened a giant hole in the safety net that has kept many Darfur civilians alive during six years of war in the vast, arid region of western Sudan. Without the groups, 1.1 million people will be without food, 1.5 million without health care, and more than 1 million without drinking water — and outbreaks of infectious disease are a greater danger, the U.N. said.

"To knowingly and deliberately deprive such a huge group of civilians of means to survive is a deplorable act," said its spokesman, Rupert Colville. "To punish civilians because of a decision by the ICC is a grievous dereliction of the government's duty to protect its own people."

U.S. State Department spokesman Gordon Duguid urged Khartoum to allow the workers back. "The forced departure of these organizations immediately and seriously threatens the lives and well-being of displaced populations," he said.

The quick show of support from Iran and Middle East militant groups underscores the political risk from the warrant: that al-Bashir could turn to a deeper alliance with the region's hard-line, anti-West bloc. If he does, he could become more resistant to any compromise with the West and take a harder line at home.

Jennifer Cooke, head of the Africa program at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the Western reaction "may drive al-Bashir further to the hard-line radicals."

"He is framing the ICC's decision as yet another Western attempt to undermine the sovereignty of a Muslim developing state," she said. "And realizing he can rally support, whether from the Arab League or more radical elements, and possibly the (African Union), it gives him less incentive to move back on his decisions."

Khartoum's government is dominated by Islamic fundamentalists, it provided a base for al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden in the 1990s, and it has long been close to Iran, Syria and Palestinian militant groups such as Hamas.

At the same time, however, al-Bashir has often shown a pragmatist's willingness to compromise when needed. Under international pressure, he made concessions in Darfur, such as letting in peacekeepers, and took the larger step of signing a 2005 peace deal with his biggest rivals — southern rebels that Khartoum battled for two decades. He has quietly cooperated with Washington on counterterrorism in recent years, even while under U.S. sanctions.

Those shows of flexibility could be shut off if al-Bashir digs in with a harder line. A more radical regime could heighten violence in Darfur and lead to a strain in ties with the southern Sudanese — or even to a collapse of the north-south peace deal.

The visiting delegation included Iranian parliament speaker Ali Larijani, Hamas' deputy leader Moussa Abu Marzouk, and a top official from Lebanon's Hezbollah, as well as Syria's parliament speaker and the leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group. Before they met with al-Bashir, Larijani told reporters at the airport that the ICC's arrest warrant is an "insult directed at Muslims."

"This group today indicates a readiness, a will and unified position to support Sudan, its government and people," Larijani said later at a news conference. He said supporters of prosecution "miscalculated" by thinking they "can sit and issue orders to have others behave as they wish. This has changed. They have to play with a new chessboard."

Abu Marzouk accused Washington of double standards. "The leaders who should be tried and criminalized are those who killed the children and women in Gaza ... Iraq, Afghanistan," he said. Hamas supporters held a large march supporting Sudan in Hamas-run Gaza on Friday.

The Hague-based ICC accuses al-Bashir of leading a counterinsurgency against Darfur that involved rapes, killings and other atrocities against civilians. Khartoum has been accused of unleashing Arab militiamen to attack Darfur civilians to put down a revolt by ethnic Africans in the region. Up to 300,000 people have died and 2.7 million driven from their homes in the conflict since 2003, according to the U.N.

Al-Bashir rejects the charges and refuses to deal with the court. Arab and African nations are pressing the U.N. Security Council to defer any prosecution for at least a year, hoping to defuse the crisis.

Last month, al-Bashir's intelligence chief warned that Khartoum could respond to a warrant by turning to a more Islamic fundamentalist line. At Thursday's demonstrations, al-Bashir hinted at moving closer to the region's militants. He saluted Hezbollah and Hamas, then said, "We call for a new front to reject all forms of colonialism. ... We in Sudan will lead this front."

Meanwhile, most staff from the expelled aid agencies have left Darfur, either going to Khartoum or leaving Sudan altogether, aid workers said. The government also ordered the closure of SUDO, the largest Sudanese non-governmental aid organization in Darfur, which was providing food, drilling water wells and operating clinics, said Ibrahim Mudawi, SUDO's head.

Alun McDonald, a Kenya-based official for Oxfam, said its 25 foreign staffers were in Khartoum. He warned that water pumps maintained by Oxfam will run out of fuel in two weeks, affecting 400,000 people who depend on them.

World Health Organization spokeswoman Fadela Chaib warned of the spread of infectious disease without aid workers' monitoring. There is an outbreak of meningitis in Nyala, South Darfur, where one of the expelled groups, Medecins Sans Frontieres-Holland, was to begin vaccinations next week.

Sudanese Foreign Ministry official Mutrif Siddique said the Sudanese Humanitarian Affairs Ministry and other authorities "have made arrangements to avoid a food shortage or a medical crisis." He acknowledged that "there will be a partial effect, and they (authorities) will work to avoid any shortage."

Asked about U.N. comments that the expulsion order could be a war crime, he said only, "Their campaign against us continues."

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Associated Press writer Frank Jordans in Geneva, Switzerland, contributed to this report.