US, France & UK “underneath my shoes” says Sudan president
November 6, 2008 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudanese president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir lashed out at Western countries and accused them of trying to topple his regime during the last 20 years.
“Money and ruling is not in the hands of US, France & UK. They are all underneath my shoes” he said angrily.
Al-Bashir also told his people not to worry about a pending arrest warrant against him by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
In mid-July the ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo announced that he is seeking an arrest warrant for Al-Bashir.
The ICC’s prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo filed 10 charges: three counts of genocide, five of crimes against humanity and two of murder. In early October ICC judges have officially started reviewing the case in a process that could possibly drag on to next year.
“Do not worry too much about what Ocampo says. He is too weak to do anything because his decisions are made by his masters in US, France & UK” Al-Bashir said.
The embattled president challenged any country to confront them and vowed to defeat them.
“Whoever wants to fight us can go ahead and lick his elbow” Al-Bashir said.
The strong statements by Al-Bashir may signal his frustration with his envoys failure to convince these countries to suspend the ICC move against him. Khartoum has dispatched numerous envoys to rally world countries behind them.
The African Union, Arab League, Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) called for invoking Article 16 which allows the UN Security Council (UNSC) to suspend the ICC prosecutions in any case for a period of 12 months that can be renewed indefinitely.
But Sudan’s allies in the UNSC including China did not introduce a resolution following suggestions by the US and to a lesser extent France that they will use their veto power to block a deferral.
(ST)