Bahraini MPs Urge Arab Leaders To Back Sudanese President

Manama, Bahrain (AHN) - Bahraini lawmakers are up in arms against the arrest warrant issued for Sudanese President Omar Hassan Al Bashir on charges of mass genocide and humanity crimes by the International Criminal Court (ICC). They are now calling upon all Arab leaders to withdraw their support from ICC.

Furthermore, they are demanding ICC issue warrants against U.S. President George Bush for war crimes in Iraq that have killed more than 1 million Iraqis since the occupation in 2003.

Al Asala bloc, a conservative Sunni bloc here, urged all Arab leaders to support Al Bashir and claimed America and other western countries had hidden agendas behind the ICC decision.

According to a United Nations report, as many as 300,000 Sudanese civilians have been killed in Darfur, with roughly 250,000 living as refugees in Chad. Another 2.3 million live in Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps in Sudan since the conflict broke out in February 2003.

The bloc said in a statement that Al Bashir was vocal about his anti-Israel approach and fought with the Egyptian troops against the Israelis in 1973.

"President Al Bashir is a great leader and this is an orchestrated campaign against him. He is known for his sharp criticism against the American policies and this attack aims to put him under pressure," MP Shaikh Adel Moawada said.

Al Asala blamed the U.S. and Israel for providing military training to Darfur rebels, as well as money, weapons and political support.

"The ICC should also then issue similar warrants against President Bush for Iraqi war crimes and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert for killing thousands of Palestinians," the bloc said.

Human rights group and non-governmental organizations across the world have welcomed the ICC ruling, which they consider a step forward to solve the Darfur crisis.

Amjad Atallah from the U.S.-based Save Darfur coalition said a Zogby Poll conducted last year showed that a majority of Arabs cared as much about Muslim deaths in Darfur as they did those killed in Iraq, Palestine or Lebanon.

"The poll also revealed that Arabs were equally frustrated with lukewarm response by their respective governments. Many Arab governments have been slow to provide real support to civilians suffering in a variety of conflicts, even in this case where the victims are all Muslims," he told AHN on Wednesday.

The picture was different in the early 1990s when the genocide in Bosnia and Herzegovina was taking place.

"Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, Malaysia, Bangladesh and other Muslim countries became directly involved before many Arab governments stepped in. The need for the hour is for all Arab states to convince the Sudanese government that the policy they are pursuing against the Muslims in Darfur must come to an immediate end," Atallah said.

Local human rights group such as the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR) have also joined hands with the Save Darfur coalition in a major step towards fighting impunity related to Darfur crimes. Arab rights activists have criticized Islamic countries for not breaking their silence on the Darfur atrocities. The Arab Coalition of Darfur, which has members from the Gulf states, blamed the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) for focusing mainly on Iraq and Palestine and ignoring Darfur.

The OIC is comprised of 57 Islamic states promoting Muslim solidarity in economic, social and political affairs.

Bahrain foreign policy supports the Sudanese government and welcomes the Abuja Agreement, a treaty attempting to end the Darfur conflict and collaboration with the African Union to resolve the crisis.