Bashir expels ten charities amid charges.

Summary: Aid agencies including Oxfam GB and Save the Children UK have been expelled by Sudan following charges against President Omar al-Bashir.

Aid agencies including Oxfam GB and Save the Children UK have been expelled by Sudan following charges against President Omar al-Bashir.

It follows a decision by the International Criminal Court (ICC) to issue an arrest warrant for al-Bashir on war crimes charges in Darfur.

In his first public address since Wednesday's indictment, al-Bashir announced that ten foreign aid agencies have been thrown out of the country.

He told a meeting of cabinet members and politicians that Sudan "will act as a responsible government", but added it will act decisively against anyone threatening stability.

Al-Bashir said: "We have expelled ten foreign organisations ... after monitoring activities that act in contradiction to all regulation and laws."

While the US has welcomed the action against him, China on Thursday urged the UN Security Council to heed calls from African and Arab countries and suspend the case against al-Bashir

The ICC, set up in 2002, indicted Bashir on seven counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, which included murder, rape and torture. The three-judge panel said it had insufficient grounds for genocide.

UN and other agencies are running the world's largest humanitarian operation in Darfur, a mainly desert region in western Sudan. International experts say at least 200,000 people have been killed there, while Khartoum says 10,000 have died.

A further 2.7 million people are estimated to have been uprooted by the conflict, which began when mostly non-Arab rebels took up arms against the government in 2003.

Independent Television News Limited 2009. All rights reserved.

Independent Television News Limited 2009. All rights reserved.

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