Sudanese political forces said they were concerned about the possible negative repercussions on their country of the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) against Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir. These politicians said there is puzzlement in Khartoum and demanded alternatives to avoid such vacuum. "This warrant is no surprise for us" Sudan's ruling National Congress Party representative in Cairo Kamal Hassan Ali said, accusing Western countries of waging a war on Sudan with different means, including the ICC. "The Court's decision is due to political, and not legal, driving forces" he affirmed, adding: "We'll fight to defend Sudan's sovereignty, prestige and dignity". He stressed everything was possible in the Sudanese political arena due to such warrant, pointing out that the arrest of al-Bashir would freeze the peace process in Darfur or would at least complicate all the efforts being made to achieve peace in the province. "Armed movement will be more intransigent in their demands" he affirmed. He added that the ICC's warrant had not taken into account the importance of political efforts aimed at achieving peace in Darfur, adding the Sudanese crisis would deepen even more. Sudan Umma Party representative in Cairo, Raqiyah Abdel Qader, said that, due to the events in Sudan, the ICC could do nothing but to issue such a warrant against President al-Bashir. Sudanese former Prime Minister Sadeq el-Mahdi had also affirmed he was sure such warrant would be issued. According to Ms. Abdel Qader, the Sudanese government has already started talking about post-arrest warrant scenarios. She explained the Umma Party has been trying since the first moment to keep the Sudanese ranks united through a national reconciliation agreement and the Sudan People's Initiative. By doing so, the party has tried to take the necessary measures and precautions to prevent any possible effects of such a warrant on Sudan and to prepare an alternative capable of dealing with such a crisis in case it happened, she went on to say. She said she was sorry that some Sudanese political forces had thwarted these efforts, adding that the Sudanese government had dealt with them negatively. "The Sudan People's Initiative still stands, but with no national unity in Sudan we will certainly be confronted with many problems" she said. "The effects will not only be on the Sudanese government, but indeed on Sudan's entire population" she went on to say. The Umma Party representative said that he wished the Sudanese government would deal reasonably with the events and would, together with the opposition, find alternatives to avoid any political vacuum in Sudan. The official spokesman of Southern Sudan's government in Cairo, Salah el-Malih, affirmed that the government of the South had already said it was in favor of a peaceful solution to the Darfur crisis and that it had called for taking more and quicker steps in this direction. He pointed out that the arrest warrant has sparked concerns and political puzzlement, explaining that national consensus is the only solution to face such impasse. El-Malih stressed it was necessary to implement the comprehensive peace agreement between the North and the South. "Sudan must embrace democracy. That's the way all crises in the country can be solved and this is what will lead to a peaceful power rotation through free and fair elections" he said, adding that the next elections are scheduled for July 2009.
