International court issues warrant for Sudanese president

The International Criminal Court in The Hague has issued an arrest warrant for president Omar al-Bashir over Darfur.

The ICC's arrest warrant for Bashir does not mention genocide. The three-judge panel said there was insufficient evidence to support charges of genocide against Bashir.

Court spokeswoman Laurence Blairon said: "He is suspected of being criminally responsible ... for intentionally directing attacks against an important part of the civilian population of Darfur, Sudan, murdering, exterminating, raping, torturing and forcibly transferring large numbers of civilians, and pillaging their property."

'Strong evidence'

Asked why judges, in a 2-1 split decision, did not issue the warrant for genocide, Blairon explained that genocide requires a clear intent to destroy in part or as a whole a specific group.

"In this particular case, the pretrial chamber has not been able to find there were reasonable grounds to establish a genocidal intent," she said.

ICC chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo accuses Bashir of orchestrating a campaign of genocide in Sudan's western region of Darfur, starting in 2003. Ocampo has said 35,000 people were killed outright and at least 100,000 more through starvation and disease.

"5,000 people are dying each month," Moreno-Ocampo told reporters before the warrant was announced.

"We have strong evidence against Mr. Bashir," he said. "More than 30 different witnesses will present how he managed to control everything. We have strong evidence of his intention."

Moreno-Ocampo previously acknowledged that help from the more than 100 states backing the court would be urgently needed in order to enforce a search warrant.

Demonstrations in Khartoum

Sudan said on Wednesday the arrest warrant was part of "neo-colonialism". Sudanese presidential adviser Mustafa Osman Ismail said the government was not surprised by the decision. "They do not want Sudan ... to become stable," he said.

President Bashir has denied accusations of war crimes in Darfur and refuses to deal with the court.

Shortly after the announcement, hundreds of Sudanese demonstrated in support of the president, shouting insults against the international court. The crowd waved pictures of Bashir and called the ICC's top prosecutor a "pig" and "coward". The rally was made up of government employees and some members of Sudanese opposition political parties.

Diplomats said Western embassies tightened their already high levels of security amid rumours of planned protests. The ruling party announced earlier that it planned a "million man march" in Khartoum on Thursday to protest the warrant if one was issued.

Dutch aid workers evacuated

Tension also mounted in Darfur, where UN officials said hundreds of Sudanese government troops paraded through the regional capital Al Fasher in a show of strength.

"It looked like a reminder to the population that they are in control ... The message was 'We are here. Mind your behaviour,'" said one official who asked not to be named.

The aid organisation Doctors without Borders (MSF) has been ordered to leave Darfur immediately. Khartoum says it cannot guarantee the safety of the aid workers following the ICC arrest warrant against president Bashir.

The move also affected the Dutch branch of MSF: thirteen staff members of MSF Holland, including three Dutch citizens, were being transfered to the capital Khartoum.

On Tuesday, MSF already withdrew 70 people, mostly foreigners, from four locations in Darfur.