Egypt and Sudan presidents discuss ICC and Darfur peace process

February 22, 2009 (CAIRO) – The Sudanese president held talks with his Egyptian counterpart behind closed doors during a brief visit to Cairo today on the Darfur peace initiative currently being brokered by the Arab Gulf state of Qatar as well as the ongoing efforts to counter a possible arrest warrant against him.

Egypt supports a deferral of the International Criminal Court (ICC)’s indictment against President Omer Hassan Al-Bashir over Darfur crimes, warning that this step would not only create instability in Sudan but also affect its national security. It also says that the Sudanese government should be given time to hasten the resolution of the armed conflict in the region.

This summit comes three months after a one day visit by the Egyptian head of state to Khartoum and met privately with Bashir.

The spokesperson of the Egyptian Presidency, Suleiman Awwad, told reporters on Sunday following the meeting that any decision by the ICC judges against Al-Bashir would have a negative impact in Sudan generally and Darfur particularly.

“The repercussions will be dangerous on Darfur, in particular, and in Sudan in general and on the U.N.-AU peacekeeping forces,” he warned.

Awwad said President Hosni Mubarak tackled the issue of the ICC with the French President Nicolas Sarkozy during a visit to Paris and also with a number of leaders he met recently.

The Egyptian official acknowledged that his country could not influence the decision of the court but warned the ICC of “politicization and selectivity”. He underlined that Israel should receive similar treatment over crimes committed in Gaza Strip last month.

Furthermore Awwad suggested that an arrest warrant if issued will only be binding to members of the ICC “unless the UN Security Council (UNSC) adopts a resolution under Chapter VII forcing all countries to comply with it”.

However he said that this scenario is unlikely since Sudan’s closest allies China and Russia are likely to use their veto power to block any such resolution.

The ICC pre-trial chamber is expected to issue soon a decision on a request for an arrest warrant for the Sudanese president filed last July by the Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo over genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

According to the UN estimations around 300,000 civilians were killed during the six-year conflict since 2003. However, Khartoum dismisses the figure and says only around 100,000 were killed.

Speaking from Paris, the founder of the rebel Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM), Abdel Wahid Al-Nur, urged the Egyptian government not to intervene in favor of the embattled president whom he held responsible for the death of hundreds of thousands of Darfurians.

He also said that is in Egypt’s interests to stop supporting a regime “that caused all the problems of the Sudan for the past twenty years and led the country to the brink of chaos”.

“I call on the Egyptian government to stand by the Sudanese people and not by a government that exterminates its people” Al-Nur said.

Ahmed Hussein Adam, the Darfur Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) spokesperson, said the Egyptian government to incite the Sudanese president to fully cooperate with the ICC.

“We do not want Bashir to drive the country into confrontation with the international community,” he added.

But the presidency spokesperson urged the international community to put pressures on the rebel movements to join the peace process. He also said the international community meant to encourage the rebel groups to pressure the Sudanese government.

Awwad further said President Bashir briefed Mubarak on the outcome of the talks held yesterday with the Qatari Emir related to the peace process under way between Sudan and one of the rebel movements in Darfur.

Bashir also informed Mubarak about the release of 24 rebels, which was intended to create an environment for the forthcoming peace negotiations.

He also expressed regret that the rebel JEM refused to sign a ceasefire with the Sudanese government, “despite the flexibility of the Sudanese government”. Awwad said Egypt hoped that the SLM led by Al-Nur will soon join the Qatari-mediated talks.

The presidency spokesperson added that his government is in contact with various rebel movements and would invite them to Egypt when there are favorable conditions to make a breakthrough.

Yesterday the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, was in Khartoum where he discussed the implementation of a goodwill agreement his government brokered between the Sudanese government and the rebel JEM.

During his one day visit to Cairo, Al-Bashir was accompanied by Bakri Hassan Salih, Minister at the Presidency; Mustafa Osman Ismail, Presidential Adviser; Salah Abdallah Gosh, Director General National Security and Intelligence Services; Ali Ahmed Karti, State Minister at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; and Kamal Obeid, Minister of State at the Ministry of Information and Communications.

(ST)