In the coming weeks, judges from the International Criminal Court will decide whether to issue a warrant for the arrest of Sudanese President Omar Hassan Al Bashir on charges of genocide and other war crimes in a military campaign that has led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of civilians in Darfur since 2003. But Al Bashir's government is hardly being treated like an international pariah. African Union leaders last week backed Sudan's appeal to have the warrant suspended, with some portraying the court as unfairly targeting African states. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon met with Al Bashir in Ethiopia last week and sought his assurances that international peacekeepers and aid workers would not be attacked if charges are filed.
| "Our diplomatic standing is always on the rise. Whenever others unjustly try to corner us, we emerge victorious." |
Even the Obama administration, which has vowed to increase pressure on Khartoum to stem the bloodshed in Darfur, has reached out to Sudan. Susan Rice, the US ambassador to the United Nations, invited Sudan's UN ambassador, Abdul Mahmoud Abdul Haleem Mohammad, on Wednesday to a reception for senior African diplomats at her official residence at the Waldorf Astoria. She also has scheduled a meeting with the Sudanese envoy this week. Indeed, Sudan's diplomatic standing has hardly been diminished by the allegations. Last month, an influential bloc of developing nations, known as the Group of 77 and China, selected Sudan as its chairman for 2009. That post will make Khartoum the developing world's champion in negotiations with the West on a variety of issues, from climate change to the UN budget and the global financial crisis. Sudan's UN envoy said that both the United States and the United Nations realise that they cannot afford to shun Khartoum, which hosts two major UN peacekeeping operations, possesses massive oil reserves and now has a new role as a UN power broker. "They can never do without us," Mohammad said. "Our diplomatic standing is always on the rise. Whenever others unjustly try to corner us, we emerge victorious." |