The world titters over Somali pirates, but doesn't give a toss about Israeli air strikes against Sudan, writes Gamal Nkrumah Sudanese President Omar Hassan Al-Bashir is biding his time. He seems confident that Sudan can ride out the crisis. The world's focus was on the International Criminal Court's (ICC) arrest warrant issued against Al-Bashir, and the issue of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Sudanese state was at stake. Al-Bashir digs deep into Sudanese national sensibilities to escape the hole he finds himself in. As the international community was deliberating over the indictment of Al-Bashir by the ICC in The Hague, Netherlands, for war crimes, the Israelis continue their tradition of flouting international law -- in broad daylight -- by conducting lightning strikes ostensibly against "terrorists" in eastern Sudan, surely with Washington's blessing, in the aftermath of Operation Cast Lead. It was, after all, the United States-based media outlets CBS and ABC that first leaked the Israeli air strikes on an Iranian ship in the Red Sea, in Sudanese territorial waters, allegedly smuggling arms to Hamas fighters in Gaza. The news of the Israeli air raids was especially shocking to the Arab states, and not only to Sudan and the Sudanese people. At first there was a news blackout in Sudan, but some independent Sudanese papers described the Israeli incursions as "embarrassments" to the Sudanese authorities. Official Sudanese newspapers later reported the incidents as "outrages" that apparently occurred on 29 January and 11 February 2009, in other words soon after the inauguration of Barack Obama as president of the US. And that's not all the Israelis are up to. Al-Bashir told the Commissioner of the African Union (AU) Jean Ping, the Secretary-General of the Arab League Amr Moussa and the Secretary-General of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu that Israel was training and arming to the teeth the armed opposition groups of Darfur. The three heads of the AU, AL and the OIC expressed their alarm at the premeditated Israeli infringement of Sudanese territorial integrity. They 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 expression of solidarity. Even the Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez came to Al-Bashir's defence. Chavez said that former US president George W Bush and the leaders of Israel should be indicted for war crimes in Gaza, Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. On an official visit to Qatar on Tuesday to attend the Second Arab-Latin American Summit, Chavez warned that "the ICC has no power to take a decision against a sitting president, but does so because Sudan is an African country, the Third World." Venezuela's stance as a signatory of the ICC shows the wider international sympathy for Khartoum. As concerns grow around Africa and the Arab world about the audacity of the Israelis, the leadership in Israel itself boasts of its military prowess. "We operate everywhere where we can hit terror infrastructure. We hit them and we hit them in a way that increases deterrence," outgoing Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was quoted as saying in the Israeli paper Haaretz. "There is no point in going into detail, and everybody can use their imagination. Those who need to know [presumably the Americans], know." Strong words that demonstrated that Israel sees itself as the only regional power that can be relied upon by Washington to strike hard against suspected terrorists. "There is no place where Israel cannot operate. There is no such place," Olmert stressed. The world would never know the extent to which the Israelis are involved militarily in the rugged and remote areas northwest of Sudan close to the Egyptian border without their hubris. The incident highlights Israeli naval superiority in the Red Sea. No other regional military power can stand up to the Israelis. The Iranians cannot defend their ships in the Red Sea; the Israeli Air Force sank the suspected Iranian arms ship in the Red Sea with impunity. According to Sudanese reports, in another attack the Israelis killed as many as 40 Sudanese, Eritreans and Ethiopians and injured others. The incidence was described as "an affront to Sudanese sovereignty". The Israeli strikes come at a defining moment for Sudan. Most Sudanese have felt much better off under Al-Bashir's government as incomes have risen steadily with the trickle down effect of the Sudanese oil boom. Still, there are millions of Sudanese -- and not only in Darfur -- who live well below the poverty line. The Sudanese president has proven beyond a doubt that he is not isolated from the outside world. Sudan's neighbours, including Egypt, have demonstrated their sympathy with Sudan. They have also strongly objected to the Israeli incursions in Sudanese territorial waters and air strikes on its territory, though unable to do anything about them. Al-Bashir's defiance is playing well with the majority of the Sudanese people, southerners, I hasten to add, as well as northerners. The masses have expressed support for the Sudanese government, and especially as far as the Israeli air strikes are concerned. Sudanese opposition forces have noted that the Israeli attacks highlight the impotence and ineffectiveness of the Sudanese regime. Al-Bashir is putting on a brave face. It is yet to be seen, however, if the Sudanese president's optimistic strategy is convincing to the electorate because not all the Sudanese politicians see eye to eye with him. Some want to see him brought to book, others would like to see him behind bars. All this may also indicate the opposition forces' concerns about just how resilient the Sudanese regime really is.
