US, France unhappy about Arab & African support to Sudan’s Bashir: report
April 4, 2009 (PARIS) – The US and French government have agreed that the support lent by Arab states to embattled Sudanese president is “regrettable”, according to a news report.
Obama is visiting France for the summit of the North Atlantic Organization (NATO).
The source said that both Obama and Sarkozy were disappointed at the backing of the Arab League and African Union (AU) to Bashir.
Both organizations have expressed dissatisfaction at the ICC move against Bashir and alleged double standards in dealings with crimes worldwide.
The Arab League leadership summit held this week in Qatar issued a resolution rejecting of the ICC warrant and called on its members not to cooperate with the court.
The Arab leaders also described the ICC warrant as violation of international law preserving immunity of state officials and arguing that Sudan is not bound by the court’s decision because it has not ratified its founding Rome Statute.
AU officials said that African states who are ICC members will hold a meeting in June to discuss possibility of removing themselves from the court by unsigning the Rome Statute.
The source said that the US and French leaders agreed to give their backing to the ICC warrant.
Obama also underscored the need to get Bashir to rescind his order expelling a dozen aid groups from Sudan last month after he accused them of collaborating with the ICC.
The newly appointed US special envoy to Sudan J. Scott Gration is on a week long visit that will take him to Darfur and Juba.
One of the main tasks of Gration is to secure the return of the expelled aid groups or finding other ways to fill the gap left by them. Sudan insists that the decision is not reversible.
This week US President Barack Obama “faces an immediate crisis” over expulsion of the groups.
“We have to figure out a mechanism to get those NGOs back in place, to reverse that decision, or to find some mechanism whereby we avert an enormous humanitarian crisis” Obama said.
Gration today said that the humanitarian crisis in Darfur is “on the brink of deepening”.
“I came away very concerned about what I saw and believe that we are on the brink of a deepening crisis in Darfur” he told journalists after a morning visit to the Zam Zam displaced persons camp in region’s north.
“We have to come up with a solution on the ground within the next few weeks”.
Gration said it was imperative to get assistance into the country “so that these people don’t die and they don’t incur any more suffering” but also expressed confidence that “this crisis can be avoided”.
The expulsion caused international outcry and the UN Security Council (UNSC) last month called on Sudan to reconsider its decision.
Sudan’s foreign minister Deng Alor who is visiting the US, criticized the decision and suggested that it was taken by Bashir and the intelligence bureau.
The SPLM figure said that neither he nor other ministers were consulted about the government’s decision to expel the groups from North Sudan.
Alor noted that he had read the news in the newspaper like anybody else and that he had been angered by the move.
(ST)