China expressed ”grave concern” on Tuesday after the International Criminal Court’s prosecutor charged Sudan’s president with genocide in Darfur.
In Khartoum, the United Nations told its staff to stay at home as thousands of Sudanese prepared to rally in support of President Omar Hassan al-Bashir.
ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo on Monday asked the court for an arrest warrant for al-Bashir, accusing him of running a campaign of genocide that has killed 35 000 people and forced 2,5-million to flee their homes in Sudan’s western region.
Sudan viewed the ICC’s move as ”irresponsible, illegal and unprofessional”, according to Vice-President Ali Osman Mohamed Taha.
At a regular news conference in Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Liu Jianchao said: ”China expresses grave concern and misgivings about the International Criminal Court prosecutor’s indictment of the Sudanese leader”.
”The ICC’s actions must be beneficial to the stability of the Darfur region and the appropriate settlement of the issue, not the contrary,” Liu said.
China, Khartoum’s biggest arms supplier and a major investor in its oil industry, now faces difficult choices over its relationship with Bashir just as the Beijing Olympics opens a soft spot for international pressure.
Beijing has sought to balance its energy and political interests in Sudan with its desire for a respected seat at the table in Darfur peace efforts.
The ICC prosecutor’s momentous move makes that balancing act harder, with all sides waiting to see if Beijing will seek to suspend the legal action via a United Nations Security Council decision.
Asked whether China would support a UN resolution suspending the ICC’s actions against Bashir, Liu avoided firm answers.
”China will continue consultation with other members of the United Nations Security Council, but as for the outcome, that I don’t know,” he said.
Liu confirmed that 172 Chinese engineers would head to Darfur on Wednesday, bringing all of its 315 promised peacekeepers into place.
Protests
In Khartoum, thousands of Sudanese prepared for a second day of protests in support of Bashir that have been joined by Sudanese who usually oppose the president, a former army general who came to power in a coup in 1989.
UN security officials told non-essential staff to stay at home on ahead of Tuesday’s expected protests.
Sudan has reassured international workers it will ensure their safety, but the United Nations raised security levels in Khartoum and Darfur ahead of the Hague court’s announcement, fearing a violent backlash.
Families have been evacuated from Khartoum and non-essential staff moved out of Darfur.
Many aid agencies said they had pulled staff from rural areas back to towns in Darfur. The United Nations declined to comment on how its huge humanitarian operation in Sudan’s west would be affected by the security measures.
The joint UN-African Union peacekeeping mission said it would also begin relocating some non-essential staff, although core operations would continue.
Moreno-Ocampo said on top of the 35 000 directly killed by Sudan’s armed forces and the militia they support, 2,5-million were subjected to a campaign of ”rape, hunger and fear” in refugee camps where he said genocide continued ”under our eyes.”
International experts say at least 200 000 people have died in Darfur and 2,5-million have been displaced since 2003. Khartoum says 10 000 people have been killed.
The prosecutor’s move ”presents China with many quandaries”, said He Wenping, an Africa expert at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, a leading think tank in Beijing.
”It will have many consequences that China won’t like. Our own peacekeepers could be threatened, and also this will seriously impede China’s space to mediate over Darfur and encourage dialogue between Sudan and the West.”
He Wenping and other observers did not expect China to move on its own to hold off the ICC, especially with Beijing determined to burnish its image with the August Olympics.
Groups critical of China’s arms and oil ties with Khartoum have urged protests to shame Beijing during the Games. – Reuters