Boycott ICC call!

A CALL has gone out in Bahrain for Arab countries to boycott the International Criminal Court, over genocide charges filed against Sudanese President Omar Hassan Al Bashir.

It should be US President George W Bush facing charges, over the deaths of a million people in Iraq since the invasion, says Bahrain's Al Asala parliamentary bloc.

The bloc is angry that charges against Al Bashir have been filed in The Hague by International Criminal Court prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo.

Two of Al Asala's MPs, parliament first vice-chairman and bloc president Ghanim Al Buainain and foreign affairs, defence and national security chairman Shaikh Adel Al Ma'awada, have issued two separate statements calling for Arab countries to withdraw their support from the court.

"We hope that Arab leaders and the Arab League move fast against this, because this is the first leader in the world to get such a summons (while still in power)," said Mr Al Buainain.

"Arab leaders should take serious action, such as threatening to stage a group withdrawal from the court or even go for a summit, just to stop this warrant from being ratified.

"This warrant clearly shows that the court, which is under the umbrella of the UN, has lost its credibility and is like other world institutions under the influence of strong world countries, which have hidden agendas against Arab countries."

Mr Al Buainain said that seeking the warrant should have been the last resort for the court, not the first.

"The court hasn't tried other options and has immediately gone for the last in line," he said.

The UN says 300,000 Sudanese have been murdered, 250,000 are refugees in Chad and 2.3m have been made homeless, since the conflict in Darfur, in the south of Sudan, broke out in February 2003.

But Mr Al Buainain said the charges were being filed after a peace treaty was signed to end the conflict in Darfur.

"Mr Al Bashir met with rebel leaders and a treaty was signed with the Sudanese army," he said.

"But this treaty was not up to the liking of one of the rebel groups, which is supported by the US, Israel and some Western countries refused to acknowledge it, saying it was treasonous.

"It clearly shows that Mr Al Bashir, who is in his post since 1989, is unpopular with the Americans and Israelis, as he fought in the Egyptian army against them in 1973 and has expressed his dislike of their policies several times."

Mr Al Buainain saids Sudan was one of the strongest countries, which the world powers were trying to shake. "Sudan has been exporting 500,000 barrels of oil a day since 1999 and it has a huge oil surplus, in addition to 2m cattle heads, and is rich in agriculture," he said.

Sudan is not under the International Criminal Court's jurisdictions, because it didn't sign the associated convention, said Mr Al Buainain.

Shaikh Al Ma'awada said that dividing Sudan was in line with the American-Israeli plan to circle the Arab world. "Mr Al Bashir is not the target, the Arab world is," he said.

"This warrant is shameful and shows that the court has no credibility and is being run by the US. Sudan is not under the court's jurisdiction, which means that warrant is unjust and invalid."

Shaikh Al Maawada said that a warrant should have been against rebel leaders not Mr Al Bashir. "The last was the attack on UN and African peace troops in Darfur, which left a massacre," he said.

"Mr Bush would have been a good candidate for the warrant for the death of a million Iraqis, or Israeli Premier Ehud Olmert for the death of thousands of Palestinians and Lebanese."

Copyright A[umlaut] 2008 Gulf Daily News

Provided by Syndigate.info an Albawaba.com company