With a jig President al-Bashir plays peacemaker in Darfur

[WhiteTara]

Source: Times on Line

President al-Bashir of Sudan, who was charged last week with masterminding a campaign of rape and genocide in Darfur, flew into the war-ravaged region yesterday, claiming the role of peacemaker and revelling in a hero's welcome from his supporters.

Waving his cane in the air, Mr al-Bashir climbed on to a rickety desk before thousands of cheering men and wailing women who had gathered in the town of El Fasher, North Darfur, to hear him speak.

First they had to watch him dance. The President's face broke into a wide smile and he jiggled from side to side as a pop song praising his virtues boomed from speakers all around the dusty bowl. “We are for peace and the President/ Bashir is our leader,” the jangling chorus went. Around him Zaghawa tribesmen on camels raised their whips in approval.

Mr al-Bashir faces ten charges brought by the International Criminal Court (ICC) relating to an alleged campaign of extermination against three Darfur tribes. His two-day tour of the region was being promoted as a peace mission, however, and he told his audience that the ICC had no right to investigate him.

“They attack us with false allegations,” he said. “We want to send this message to the world: we are the people of peace, we want peace ... we are the only ones who can achieve peace in Darfur. Every time we take a step forward, make progress and signs of peace emerge, those people try to mess it up, return us to square one and distract us with marginal issues and false allegations.”

Read more: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/africa/article4387238.ece

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That was one news take. Here is another, because in the end, it seems that he made some promises.
Bashir Visits Darfur, Pledges Sudan Will Protect Relief Workers
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601116&sid=aT6cXX75UElo&refer=africa

By Paul Tighe

July 24 (Bloomberg) -- Sudan's President Umar al-Bashir, indicted by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes in the Darfur conflict, visited the region yesterday and pledged to provide security for international relief workers.

``We are ready to provide any assistance that will help you do your work,'' al-Bashir said at a meeting with Rodolphe Adada, the United Nations-African Union representative, according to the UN's Web site. The meeting took place in El-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state.

Al-Bashir, accompanied by international journalists, was making his first visit to the region in three years, the Associated Press reported. Sudanese television showed the president greeting cheering crowds and, on one occasion, breaking into a traditional dance, the news agency said.

The war in Darfur, a region in western Sudan almost the size of France, has killed as many as 300,000 people and forced 2 million to flee their homes since 2003. Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo asked the ICC in The Hague July 14 to issue an arrest warrant for al-Bashir over alleged genocide and crimes against humanity in the conflict.

Sudan's government has vowed to resist any attempt to arrest the 64-year-old leader. The AU criticized the planned indictment, saying it won't help end the crisis in Darfur.
more...fairly long article

But this one makes me almost physically ill...it's long but the best. It almost reminded me of *

Sudan’s President Goes on Tour
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/24/world/africa/24sudan.html?_r=1&ref=world&oref=login

snip
Sudanese forces and government-sponsored militias swept the countryside. They burned down villages, raped countless women and drove hundreds of thousands of people off their land, all part of an effort to put down the rebellion. The violence drove more than two million people off their land. The prosecutor for the International Criminal Court, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, has accused Mr. Bashir of being the “mastermind” of this strategy, the one with “absolute control.”

But on Wednesday, Mr. Bashir did not act as if he felt guilty. He focused on peace, development and pleasing the crowds. The minute he stepped off the plane here, a white dove was thrust into his hands.

Mr. Bashir threw the bird toward the sky. It flapped its wings a few times, but did not really fly.

No bother. Mr. Bashir beamed and strutted down the runway.

The roadshow, part of a whistle-stop tour of the three biggest cities in Darfur, seems to be part of his attempt to head off an arrest warrant that the prosecution is seeking and judges in The Hague are considering.