BRUSSELS/KHARTOUM – The International Criminal Court's (ICC) Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo on Tuesday likened Sudanese elections scheduled for next month to "a Hitler election". The comment came as Sudan threatened to expel foreign observers after rejecting their call to delay the country's first multi-party polls in 24 years over concerns about the way they are being organised. President Omar al-Bashir issued the warning in an address to supporters in the eastern city of Port Sudan after the electoral commission decided to press ahead and stage the elections next month as planned. The EU's observers on the ground are facing "a big challenge", Moreno-Ocampo told a press conference in Brussels. "It's like monitoring a Hitler election," he added. The ICC has issued an arrest warrant for the Sudanese President on five counts of crimes against humanity, including genocide, and two of war crimes committed in Darfur – its first-ever warrant for a sitting head of state. Moreno-Ocampo said it was the duty of the Sudanese government in the first place to arrest al-Bashir. An ICC appeals chamber last month ordered a review of al-Bashir's arrest warrant for alleged atrocities in the war-torn western Sudanese province of Darfur. It directed judges to reconsider their decision to omit genocide from the warrant issued in March last year, saying they had made "an error in law". Al-Bashir has threatened to expel international election monitors after they called for a delay in the country's first multi-party elections in 24 years. The US based Carter Centre called for a "minor" delay in the vote, scheduled for April 11, to deal with logistical problems, with hundreds of thousands of names missing from the voters' list weeks before the polls. Al-Bashir, late on Monday, responded angrily on state TV saying "any foreigner or organisation that demand the delay of elections will be expelled sooner rather than later. "We wanted them to see the free and fair elections, but if they interfere in our affairs, we will cut their fingers off, put them under our shoes, and throw them out," he said. Officials from the Carter Centre, the only long-term international observer mission in Sudan, said Sudan's presidential and legislative elections remained "at risk on multiple fronts", including the ability of candidates to campaign freely and the impact of delayed preparations for the vote. It said preparations by the national election commission were lagging as Sudan prepares for some of the most complex elections on record with at least six different votes using three different voting systems. It also urged Sudan to lift harsh restrictions on rallies and end fighting in Darfur ahead of the ballot. The election commission, however, has said the vote will go ahead as planned. The ballot, originally scheduled before July 2009, has already been delayed several times.
