The Argentine sheriff has a showdown with the Sudanese strongman. The fireworks have begun, shudders Gamal Nkrumah In an unprecedented development, the Prosecutor-General of the International Criminal Court (ICC) Luis Moreno-Ocampo filed 10 criminal charges against Sudanese President Omar Hassan Al-Bashir. Moreno-Ocampo disclosed that the Sudanese president "masterminded and implemented a plan to destroy in substantial part" three non-Arab ethnic groups indigenous to Darfur -- the Fur, after whom the province is named, the Zaghawa and the Masalit. Members of the three ethnic groups constitute the greater part of the armed opposition groups of Darfur. Moreno-Ocampo's brazen, some would even venture as far as saying impertinent, charge against a sitting president of a sovereign state sets the tone for a new dispensation of accountability. This is the first time that such charges were made against a sitting president anywhere in the world, and the Sudanese authorities did not take kindly to the affront, to put it mildly. The Sudanese authorities and many African and Arab leaders pointed out that this was not a step towards healing the wounds of Sudan. To add insult to injury, the ICC prosecutor inferred that the Sudanese president was ultimately responsible for widespread rape and other human rights atrocities committed by the government-aligned militias of the nomadic Arabised tribes of western Sudan better known as the Janjaweed. "76-year-old women and six-year-old girls are raped," Moreno-Ocampo declared. He noted that millions of refugees and displaced people are under constant threat of maltreatment, torture and death by the Janjaweed. "Genocide is a crime of intention -- we do not need to wait until these 2.5 million [Darfur refugees] die," Moreno-Ocampo argued. He was terse and translucent. Whether the intractable social problems of Sudan can be solved quite so dramatically is open to doubt. That unfinished list of unresolved tragedies and endless Sudanese squabbles is far too depressingly long. The Sudanese government reacted angrily, calling Ocampo's statements "neo-colonialist" and "politically motivated" and Ocampo a "common criminal". The Sudanese Ambassador to the UN Abdul-Mahmoud Abdul-Halim described Ocampo's verdict as the "justice of the strong against the weak". Moreno-Ocampo insists that he understands why some African and Arab leaders look askance at the prospects of trying a sitting president. "I personally was persecuted by our own [Argentinean] junta," Moreno-Ocampo told Al-Ahram Weekly. "I am from the South. I understand how people in the South feel. I know of the double standards of the powers that be. We are an impartial court," he explains in his defence. He has extensive experience prosecuting abuses by senior military officials in his native Argentina, having served as assistant prosecutor of Argentina's national committee on the disappearance of persons in 1984-85 and during the trial of the juntas and military dictatorship in 1976-83. Unperturbed, Sudan warned of serious consequences and said it could no longer guarantee the safety and well-being of the UN staff in Darfur, prompting the UN to withdraw what it termed non-essential staff from Darfur. There are growing fears of a violent backlash. Reprisals by the Arabised militias, especially the Janjaweed, are expected. The government of Al-Bashir is defiant and is lobbying countries at the United Nations Security Council it considers friendly such as Russia and China to block the ICC's genocide charges against the president. Al-Bashir, ringed by loyal officials and hangers-on, vowed to the press to renew the struggle against the "enemies of Sudan". Sudanese officials maintain their war in Darfur is a legitimate attempt to put down rebellion. Top Sudanese officials have hinted that the man who should be punished is none other than the chief Islamist ideologue and former parliamentary speaker Sheikh Hassan Al-Turabi. There was a time when the world wondered whether it was Al-Turabi or Al-Bashir who was actually in charge. Indeed, many Sudan observers, and not just Al-Bashir sympathisers, insist that if anyone is responsible for the atrocities in Darfur, it is Al-Turabi. This is not surprising given that Al-Turabi was the redoubtable kingmaker and indisputable leader of the then ruling National Islamic Front (NIF). Al-Turabi hotly disputes the charge. He insists that the atrocities were committed after he lost his position as NIF head and his post as speaker. "I have many followers and supporters in Darfur and other parts of western Sudan," Al-Turabi told Al-Ahram Weekly. "The point is that President Al-Bashir was and still is the head of state, and therefore ultimate responsibility lies with him. Today, Darfur is considered a stronghold of the Popular Congress Party." However, it is Al-Turabi who heads the PCP, a leading opposition Islamist party. Moreover, the party has strong links with various opposition groups in Darfur. It is an open secret that Al-Turabi is the ideological mentor of leaders of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) including Khalil Ibrahim, though he is not particularly popular among other secularist Darfur armed opposition groups. Be that as it may, the armed Darfur opposition groups seeking independence have expressed their support for Moreno- Ocampo. They issued statements demanding that justice be done and that those who committed atrocities in Darfur, no matter how highly-placed they are, should be brought to book. "I am prepared to stand trial if need be. I have a clear conscience. I fought for my people, and not against my own people," the leader of the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) Abdul-Wahid Mohamed Nour told the Weekly from exile in Paris. The leader of the SLA described Moreno-Ocampo's decision on Monday as a "historical day". He also indicated that he is ready to cooperate fully with the ICC. "We are for the ICC and we insist that UN Resolution 1593 be fully implemented and adhered to," he stressed. UN Resolution 1593 of 2005 stipulates that the Sudanese government and all the other protagonists in the Darfur conflict cooperate fully with the ICC and Prosecutor Moreno-Ocampo, providing them with assistance. The Sudanese refugees in Europe and the West generally have demonstrated in support of Moreno-Ocampo. Thousands of Sudanese refugees in London brandished placards and chanted slogans denouncing the Sudanese president and his henchmen. They believe that the current publicity surrounding Moreno- Ocampo's revelations would advance the cause of the long- suffering people of Darfur. French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner reiterated President Nicolas Sarkozy's stern condemnation of the Sudanese regime, warning that they had no option but to cooperate with the ICC. "It is a decision that Al-Bashir must respect. We must respect justice," Kouchner explicated. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown stated that, "the ICC has our support for its activities." UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon expressed the hope that the UN peacekeeping operations, humanitarian and development work in Darfur continue unhampered. Sudan's neighbours expressed solidarity with Khartoum, in sharp contrast to Western powers. The Gulf Cooperation Council, the Sahel and Sahara regional grouping COMESSA -- of which Sudan is a fully-fledged member state -- and the African Union all voiced concern. The Arab League announced that its member states would hold an emergency meeting on Saturday in Cairo to discuss the Sudanese crisis. The Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa urged caution and restraint. President Hosni Mubarak, in Paris, forewarned that the ICC decision could inadvertently instigate more violence in Darfur and lead to the breakdown in negotiations between the Sudanese government and the armed opposition groups of Darfur. The leader of Sudan's Umma Party Al-Sayed Al-Sadig Al-Mahdi also added his voice to those who feared the negative ramifications of the ICC decision to file charges against President Al-Bashir. However, he was magnanimous to the man who ousted him in a bloodless coup in 1989. "I bear no bitterness towards President Al-Bashir personally, and this is no time for recrimination and vindictiveness. However, I believe it a dangerous precedent to try and convict sitting heads of state," Al-Mahdi told the Weekly. Al-Mahdi, however, stressed that this should be "a time of national unity in Sudan and that the country should pull together its resources." He stressed that political rivalries and divisions and infighting would not serve the cause of Sudan. He lamented the fact that with its vast oil resources, Sudan is poised for an economic boom and that the Sudanese people and leadership should take full advantage of the favourable economic outlook. "Targeting any person in this country, especially its leader, is targeting Sudan, its people, stability, peace and security," Al-Mahdi extrapolated. Nevertheless, he did not underestimate the importance of advancing the cause of democracy and political reform in Sudan. "At this particular historical juncture, it is imperative that accountability, good governance and democratisation are advanced in Sudan," Al-Mahdi concluded.
