Arabs hear alarm bells as ICC targets Sudan's Bashir


When the International Criminal Court prosecutor
sought an arrest warrant for Sudan's president, the move set off alarm bells
in Arab capitals that fear it may showcase a new form of Western meddling in
Arab affairs.

Arab leaders, many of whom run governments accused of rampant human rights
abuses, worry the court could next turn its focus to other Arab states if it
succeeds in prosecuting Omar Hassan al-Bashir for Darfur war crimes.

Anticipating the ICC move, Sudan swiftly called for an emergency meeting of
Arab foreign ministers, whose ranks include strong North African friends of
Khartoum and who swung to action with a plan that appeared aimed to avoid
prosecution of Bashir.

"A large part of the developing world is very, very suspicious of the ICC,"
Sudan expert John Ashworth said. "If you look at the Arab League itself, I
guess there would be members of the Arab League who would fear being
indicted as well."

Many Arabs believe that Muslim states are being targetted disproportionately
by the West for any perceived misteps, citing the U.S.-led wars on Iraq and
Afghanistan as well as pressure on Iran over its nuclear programme.

Meanwhile, Arabs say the international community has failed for half a
century to secure statehood for Palestinians or speak up about Israeli human
rights violations.

That makes them all the more resentful of Western calls for action on
Darfur, where the ICC prosecutor has accused Bashir of orchestrating
genocide that has killed 35,000 people outright, at least another 100,000
through slow death, and forced 2.5 million from their homes.


ARAB PLAN

Arabs' cultural and political affinity with Sudan's largely Arab north also
means some may feel more natural empathy with the Bashir government than
with mostly non-Arab Darfur rebels.

"All the Arabs now feel, and I think they have a right, that they are
already targetted... For those average people, Omar al-Bashir represents
Arab legitimacy, Arab dignity even," Cairo-based political analyst Diaa
Rashwan said.

Both the Arab League and the African Union want the U.N. Security Council to
put on hold the ICC move to indict Bashir, and the Arab League said on
Tuesday that it had secured a pledge from Sudan to try those it suspects of
crimes in Darfur at home.

The deal will allow the United Nations, African Union and Arab League to
follow the proceedings, although it would be up to Sudan to decide who to
try. The League did not say if two Sudanese indicted by the ICC last year
would face charges.

The agreement, after a visit by Arab League chief Amr Moussa to Khartoum,
showed the League may be well-placed to pressure Sudan. But the move may
still not satisfy Western critics.

"From the Sudan government's point of view, what they clearly want to do is
to get the Arab League to put pressure on the African Union to try and back
up the president," said Patrick Smith, editor of UK-based Africa
Confidential.

"Part of its strategy is to have at any one time four or five different
initiatives to deal with what's going on in Darfur. So in that way the core
issues are obfuscated," he said.


INSTABILITY FEARS

Some Arab states have practical concerns as well. Cairo, for example, fears
a handful of potentially unpredictable new states emerging to its south that
could threaten stability or covet Egypt's share of Nile waters, analysts
say. Those fears are among factors that lead it to lend more support to
Khartoum than to separatist rebels.

But there is by no means a true Arab consensus for full backing of Khartoum,
and the League's criticism of the ICC has so far been relatively mild.

Analysts say some states may want to avoid strong criticism of the ICC or
unconditional backing for Khartoum because it could embarrass them before
the international community.

Yet if diplomatic efforts by Arab and African states are unable to delay an
arrest warrant for Bashir, analysts said they doubt very much that the
Sudanese leader would face any dangers in the countries of his Arab friends.

"I don't think at all that President Bashir will have any kind of problems
in any Arab country," Rashwan said. "I think they will decide to receive
President Bashir."


http://africa.reuters.com/wire/news/usnL231021822.html



--
Give us back our countries: Stop the criminal multiculturalism ideology
enforced upon the white world against the will of its peoples, leading to
mass immigration from the third-world: Mul-cul + pol-corr = lethal mixture
for the white world. And give us back our freedom: Dismantle all
surveillance technology.

SPAM