Is it Kiir, Rice or Ocampo who will call the shot on Sudan's beleaguered president, asks Gamal Nkrumah Sudan is set to take centre stage. Sudanese President Omar Hassan Al-Bashir has a bold and meaty stance for tackling crises. He has spoken in blood-curdling language. His country is still reeling from the ramifications of the arrest warrant issued against him by the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands for genocide and war crimes. Yet his African and Arab brethren stand by him. President Hosni Mubarak warmly received Al-Bashir on Wednesday as the two leaders discussed issues of mutual concern. Many of his compatriots, and the Arab public at large, believe Al-Bashir is being badgered and victimised by the West with its overpowering oppression and double standards. The Sudanese president, however, lackadaisically dismisses the ICC allegations and indictment as hogwash. Amid a constant drumbeat of bellicose posturing and war whoops, Al-Bashir donned the distinctive feathery plumage -- the headgear of the Nilotic war chieftains in southern Sudan, who gave him a rapturous reception. Sudan's first vice-president, Salva Kiir, the leader of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), the main coalition partner of Al-Bashir's ruling National Congress Party, threw the gauntlet. "This matter may hang on for some time but it certainly will not mean the end of our country... This episode should not be viewed as a crisis but as an opportunity to consolidate peace, justice and stability in our country." Kiir is head of a national Sudanese committee launched to respond to the ICC indictment. Kiir and his SPLM might emerge as the effective kingmakers in post-ICC Sudan. At any rate, Commissioner of the African Union (AU) Jean Ping, Secretary-General of the Arab League Amr Moussa, and Secretary- General of the Organisation of Islamic Conference Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu all paid visits to Khartoum to express their solidarity with President Al-Bashir. Sudan, a member-state of the three organisations, warmly welcomed the fraternal well-wishers. "The decisions of the ICC will not affect our movements inside or outside Sudan and the decisions will only be ink on paper," declared Al-Bashir in the Eritrean capital Asmara. He campaigns a trifle too blatantly, his critics complain. A religious edict, or fatwa, issued by Sudanese ulama (religious scholars), decreed that for his own safety and well-being Al-Bashir would be ill-advised to pay official visits to foreign countries for the time being. But Al-Bashir pointedly dismissed such suggestions as improper and after returning from Asmara promptly announced that he would be visiting Cairo for consultations with President Hosni Mubarak. It is against this backdrop that Egypt has embarked on a flurry of diplomatic activity to support Sudan in international forums. The visit last week of Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul- Gheit and General Intelligence Chief Omar Suleiman to Sudan indicates the urgency with which Egypt views the Sudanese political crisis. President Mubarak has reiterated that Sudan is Egypt's strategic depth. Abul-Gheit and Suleiman met in Khartoum with Sudanese President Al-Bashir to discuss the latest developments with regards to the ICC indictment and Egypt pledged to stand by Sudan in its hour of distress. Egypt, however, has urged Sudan to participate in an international conference sponsored by the United Nations to deal with the ICC indictment of President Al-Bashir. The Sudanese government has categorically rejected the call for a UN-sponsored conference on the pretext that it internationalises the Darfur question. As far as the authorities in Khartoum are concerned, they are determined to restrict discussions on Darfur within the limits of the regional and religious contexts -- Islamic, Arab and African. Al-Bashir received the red carpet treatment in Eritrea. "Our problems on the African continent are imposed from the outside," noted Eritrean President Isaias Afewerki. Mahjoub Fadel, Sudanese presidential press adviser, described Al-Bashir's trip to Asmara, his first abroad since the ICC indictment, as "a key for forming a broad front to counteract the Western organisations that have become a sword hanging over Africa's neck." Al-Bashir's slightly breathless Eritrean jaunt, unsurprisingly so given the speed with which he has responded to the crisis, indicates his resolve to defy what he deems is a Western plot to scapegoat him. The Sudanese president is not feeling overwhelmed by the sea of troubles that confronts him. Unperturbed, he vowed to visit the Qatari capital Doha to attend the upcoming Arab summit. He has also struck an aggressive pose towards his detractors at home. He denounced the Darfur armed opposition groups but hinted that there was still room for reconciliation. At a rally in southern Darfur this week, his third visit to the war-torn province since the 4 March ICC indictment, Al-Bashir reiterated that he will not cancel plans to travel abroad but extended the hand of friendship to his erstwhile enemies. Yet if his lightning visit to Eritrea is any indicator, arresting Al-Bashir is going to a difficult game to play. Admittedly, making Eritrea your destination is a sign of how low your reputation has fallen as far as the West and its regional allies are concerned. The few who credit Eritrea with existence do not credit it with much political sense. Barely a few years ago, Eritrea felt it was right and proper to feel queasy about the alleged Sudanese government human rights violations in Darfur. Today, the Eritrean leadership has no qualms about dealing with the Sudanese authorities, and especially when it comes to President Al-Bashir. Al-Bashir made the question of Sudanese sovereignty a central theme of his anti-imperialist campaign. His appeal drummed up nationalistic fervour at home. But can it win hearts and minds abroad? The crux of the matter is that the West is not in a mood to compromise with Sudan. Western powers would like to see Al-Bashir stand trial for his alleged crimes. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned that the Sudanese government decision to expel humanitarian relief agencies in Darfur following the ICC indictment of Al-Bashir would lead to "untold misery and suffering". She should be reminded, living in a glass house, that it was her husband who first threw a stone at Al-Bashir's Sudan. The notion that US President Barack Obama would be less bellicose because of his race is preposterous. Not only did he appoint a special envoy to Sudan, the retired airforce Major General Scott Gration, but there is ominous symbolism in his choice of the US ambassador to the UN. Afro-American Susan Rice, a hawkish Africa hand, is on the record as willing to "go down in flames" over Sudan. The scene is set for a bloody confrontation between the Sudanese authorities and the Western powers. Egypt and other African and Arab countries are in an unenviable position. On the one hand, they wish to support Sudan and sincerely believe that the indictment of Al-Bashir constitutes an infringement of the sovereignty of Sudan. On the other hand, the Arab and African countries want to see peace, political stability and justice in Sudan. If Sudan "goes down in flames" other African and Arab countries could follow suit. History hits the rewind button. When the Democratic administration of ex-president Bill Clinton bombed a pharmaceutical factory in the vicinity of Khartoum, Arab and African countries protested. Then, relations between Egypt and Sudan were at an all-time low. Well, there had to be that, didn't there? After all, there were reports that the Sudanese authorities were behind the assassination attempt against President Mubarak during his trip to Addis Ababa to attend the AU summit in 1995. Times have changed, at least as far as Egypt's rapprochement or lack thereof goes. A coward dies a thousand times before his death. As for Al-Bashir, or at least so he would have us believe, the valiant never taste of death but once.
