KORDOFAN, Sudan (UPI) — Sudanese President Omer Hassan Bashir says war crimes charges leveled against him by an International Criminal Court prosecutor are merely “nuisances.”
Speaking Tuesday to a rally in Kordofan, Sudan, Bashir said the three counts of genocide, five counts of crimes against humanity and two counts of murder sought by ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo against him are “nuisances” and “similar to mosquito buzz,” the Sudan Tribune reported.
“We will not be broken and we will not kneel or be driven because they will not prolong our life or reduce our term in office,” Bashir reportedly said. “Money and ruling is not in the hands of (the) U.S., France and (the) U.K. They are all underneath my shoes.”
The newspaper said Bashir’s aggressive tone could be in response to what he sees as a lack of help from ally China in the U.N. Security Council, where it has failed to introduce a resolution to quash Moreno-Ocampo’s request despite support for Bashir from the African Union and the Arab League.
ICC judges are reviewing Moreno-Ocampo’s evidence, which accuses Bashir of aiding pro-government Islamic militias in conducting an ethnic cleansing campaign against black African residents of Sudan’s Darfur province.
- UPI.com
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