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Bashir 'parades as man of peace'
25/07/2008 08:51 - (SA)
El Geneina - Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir paraded as a man of peace on Thursday as he wrapped up a heavily protected tour of Darfur defying accusations that he masterminded genocide in the region.
Wearing a safari suit, shades and a giant ring, he danced on stage and beat his silver-topped cane to nationalist music as several thousand people fanned themselves in the scorching heat of the West Darfur state capital, El Geneina.
On his second day of a tour of the three government-controlled state capitals in the vast western region, Bashir presented himself as a man of peace despite stalled international efforts to find a political solution.
"We will exclude no one (from peace): tribal leaders, politicians, signatory movements and even non-signatories," he said.
International arrest warrant
He was the first head of state accused by International Criminal Court prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo on 10 counts of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide in Sudan's western region of Darfur, gripped by more than five years of war.
He faced a possible international arrest warrant for allegedly ordering his forces to annihilate three non-Arab groups in Darfur, masterminding murder, torture, pillaging and using rape to commit genocide.
Bashir spent two days dancing and talking about peace to thousands of supporters, promising to do whatever possible to allow the displaced to return home, but giving no specifics on his first visit to Darfur in a year.
"We don't need lessons from anyone. We don't need to be told how to behave. Peace is the responsibility of Darfuris," he said in El Geneina, adding he had come to Darfur to "share the pain" of the people and listen to their requests.
Bashir had inaugurated development projects and met state and United Nations officials, but avoided the sprawling impoverished camps for the more than 2.2 million people estimated to have been displaced by the war.
'Ocampo, you are a coward!'
In El Geneina, the people who came out onto the streets to watch his heavily armed convoy - guarded by police, army and national security - drove to the organised reception kept quiet and did not cheer, an AFP correspondent said.
West Darfur was the poorest state in the region and parts were strongholds of the Justice and Equality Movement rebel group that attacked the capital in May, for the first time bringing the conflict close to the seat of power.
Two helicopters circled overhead as schoolchildren, government employees, tribesmen perched on the backs of camels and women attended an organised rally, where loudspeakers blared out speeches from officials and traditional music.
"Ocampo, you are a coward, an agent of the Americans!" shouted someone in the crowd, considerably smaller than those in North and South Darfur states.
The UN said that up to 300 000 people had died and more than 2.2 million had fled their homes since the conflict erupted in February 2003.
- AFP
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