Saudi columnists criticize Sudan for escalated situation in Darfur

July 13, 2008 (LONDON) – The Sudanese government is to blame for the intensification of the conflict in war ravaged region of Darfur two Saudi columnists said in separate articles.

“The Sudanese regime could have avoided a lot if they handled the crisis wisely and in a humanitarian manner rather than stubbornness and challenging the international community” Tareq Al-Hamed, editor in chief of the daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat published in London, said today.

Abdel-Rahman Al-Rashid, another leading Saudi columnist, wrote in the same newspaper saying that Sudan “is in denial over crimes that have been committed even though there is substantial evidence and millions of refugees living on international aid and protection”.

The Op-Eds mark a rare dissention from the mainstream Arab voices that have generally supported Khartoum with regards to the Darfur crisis. Al-Sharq Al-Awsat is widely considered a pro-Saudi newspaper.

Both Al-Hamed and Al-Rashid said that the imminent indictment of the Sudanese president by the International Criminal Court is a result of ignoring the Darfur crisis.

“Just implying that the ICC prosecutor may seek an arrest warrant against the Sudanese president on genocide charges is in itself a severe blow to the Sudanese state” Al-Hamed said.

On Friday, the Washington Post reported that ICC prosecutors will seek the arrest of Sudanese President Omer al-Bashir for genocide in Darfur, prompting Khartoum to warn of a threat to peace efforts.

Sudan also called for an emergency meeting of the Arab League foreign ministers in response to the ICC.

But both writers said that there is little the Arab League can do to help Sudan evade the ICC prosecutions.

“The Arab league is in reality is a league for Arab presidents and its only natural that it will rally behind the Sudanese president. Its problem that it is an institution without any political or military influence” Al-Rashid said.

“All they can do is issue a statement of condemnation to console the Sudanese president. We must remember that the Arab League did not care about extermination of 300,000 Darfuris. It even refused to stand a moment of silence to the killings, displacements and burning” he added.

Many Darfur rebel groups have echoed Al-Rashid opinions and accused the Arab League of blindly supporting Khartoum at the expense of Darfuris.

The leader of Darfur Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) Khalil Ibrahim slammed the Arab League saying it devoted more attention to crises in other Arab countries than the Darfur conflict.

Al-Rashid, who is also the former editor in chief of Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, dismissed claims that the ICC is motivated by “racial or religious” biases.

“All Darfur victims are Sudanese Muslims. Also the Sudanese president is not the only African leader to be prosecuted as he was preceded by Liberian president Charles Taylor. Also a Slobodan Milosevic, a Christian, was indicted for genocide against Bosnian Muslims” he said.

Al-Hamed called on Sudan to deal with the ICC issue rationally.

“Emotional responses will not provide any solutions but may complicate matters even more” he said.

International experts also say more than 300,000 were killed and 2 million have been driven from their homes by the conflict in Darfur, a region that is roughly the size of France.

(ST)