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KHARTOUM — Sudan on Thursday rejected a deal with the International Criminal Court to hand over two indicted officials in exchange for dropping the court's arrest warrant for President Omar Hassan al-Bashir.
ICC Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo sought an arrest warrant for Mr. al-Bashir on Monday on suspicion of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur, a move that some powers fear could derail the fragile Darfur peace process.
"There will be no direct co-operation with the International Criminal Court and no sending any Sudanese citizens to The Hague," presidential adviser Mustafa Osman Ismail told a forum on Thursday.
The decision to refer Darfur to the ICC came from the UN Security Council so any proposal to resolve the crisis should also come from there, he said.
ICC judges are expected to decided in October or November whether to issue a warrant for Mr. al-Bashir's arrest.
Mr. Ocampo asked the ICC for the warrant, accusing Mr. al-Bashir of a campaign of genocide in which 35,000 people were killed outright, at least 100,000 died a "slow death" and 2.5 million were forced to flee their homes in Sudan's western Darfur region.
Western diplomats in New York have said a deal could be struck to drop or suspend the warrant for Mr. al-Bashir if he agreed to hand over Humanitarian Affairs State Minister Ahmed Haroun and militia leader Ali Kushayb, indicted by the ICC last year.
A senior Sudanese government official, agreeing with Mr. Ismail's stand, ruled out a deal. "This is non-negotiable," the official told Reuters. "Any talks will be held within the declared position of Sudan."
Sudan has asked Russia, China and members of the Arab League and the African Union to help it pursue a Security Council resolution suspending a warrant for Mr. al-Bashir for 12 months.
Diplomats in New York say the Arab League and the AU's Peace and Security Council are expected to call on the Security Council soon to block any ICC moves in the interests of bringing peace to Darfur, devastated by the five-year-old conflict.
ARAB AND AFRICAN SUPPORT
Sudan is likely to get both Arab and African support at the United Nations. AU officials have expressed concern that the ICC's first four cases have all focused on Africa.
Senegal's president said on Thursday that U.S. President George W. Bush had told African leaders at one point that the United States might send troops to Darfur if they did not act to halt what he saw as genocide there.
"Myself and other African colleagues tried to dissuade him from this and convince him to leave us to try to sort out this problem among us Africans," President Abdoulaye Wade said in a statement issued in Dakar on Mr. Ocampo's request for an ICC arrest warrant for Mr. al-Bashir.
Only about 2,000 people attended the latest in a series of demonstrations against the ICC in Khartoum on Thursday, but for the first time senior government officials addressed the crowd.
Mr. al-Bashir's top adviser, Nafie Ali Nafie, told the rally: "The court will not find any respect from anyone in Sudan."
The protests have been organized by Mr. al-Bashir's ruling National Congress Party (NCP), but opposition politicians and other Sudanese have also expressed concern the ICC action could be at odds with the causes of peace and justice in Sudan.
The United Nations strengthened security before the ICC announcement, withdrawing non-essential staff from Darfur and evacuating families from Khartoum in case of a backlash.
On Wednesday, an officer from the joint UN-African Union peacekeeping mission (UNAMID) was shot dead in a carjacking in West Darfur.
Just north of that attack, in Beida town, the aid agency Tearfund's premises were broken into and staff were beaten by armed men, the agency said.
The attackers stole communications equipment, laptops, cash, personal effects and a vehicle, Tearfund's acting country director Jane Petty said.
"Two national staff were very badly beaten trying to defend the one [expatriate] lady" in the base, she said, adding that the agency had suspended all operations in the southwest and relocated all its staff.
