Why yes, blame it on whitey!Waving a stick in the air in front of a supportive crowd of thousands, Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir punched the air to roars of support.
He looked little like a man on his first full day as an international fugitive - following an arrest warrant on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Some 10,000 protesters crammed themselves into central Khartoum in support of the president, following the issuing on Wednesday of an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court.
'Real criminals'
Instead Mr Bashir scoffed at the warrant, telling the mass rally in the packed downtown district of Khartoum that Western leaders were the real criminals. "The true criminals are the leaders of the United States and Europe," he told the crowds to loud cheers.
He in turn accused the United States of genocide against the Native American Indians, as well as in Vietnam and in the atomic bombing of Hiroshima in 1945.
"One day we will take them to justice," he added.
It was not clear if the president was joking, but the crowd loved it.
According to the United Nations, some 300,000 have died in Darfur since the conflict erupted in 2003 and more than two million have been displaced - figures strongly rejected by Khartoum.
Street party
At one point, the dancing 65-year-old even gave tongue-in-cheek thanks to the ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo - for bringing the Sudanese together on the streets. The roads were clogged far out from the centre with busloads of protesters travelling to the demonstration, singing in support of Mr Bashir as they went.
Not all support Mr Bashir. There is little love lost for the leader in those areas affected by the long years of fighting with Khartoum, such as Darfur, the east or the south.
But here in the heart of government loyalists, there was almost a party atmosphere.
A group of women chanted "Down with Ocampo", while a column of school-children shouted, "Down, down America".
'Western spies'
But others grew angry when Mr Bashir accused Western nations of neo-colonialism, and directed their anger at the few foreigners in the crowd. "We will fight anyone who thinks they can stop the president," said one demonstrator.
"We will show you - the Western nations - what we are made of," a colleague added.
Asked what they thought of the expulsion of 10 aid agencies accused by Khartoum of collaborating with the ICC, protesters seemed not to care.
"We don't need Western spies," one spat.
Amnesty International has warned that more than 2.2 million vulnerable Sudanese face the risk of starvation and disease if the expulsions continue.
But as the angry protesters closed in with a threatening manner, the message was clear: "All foreigners go, all of you, go now," they shouted.
Other Sudanese rushed to offer reassurance that foreigners were welcome, but had a similar attitude.
"We just need a Sudanese solution to a Sudanese issue," one elderly man explained more calmly.
The Mugabe-style justification seems to be catching on. And then compare it to the usage of two atomic bombs on Japan, doesn't matter that it's apples and oranges.Surprisingly small demonstration though.
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ICC gives solace to Darfur refugees
Warrant issued for Sudan's leaderQuiet contentment is the best way to describe reactions to the news of Omar al-Bashir's indictment in the Farchana refugee camp - a dustbowl in the far east of Chad, home to 20,000 Sudanese from Darfur.
Although some of the more educated camp leaders articulated their happiness at the verdict, there was no massive outpouring of jubilation, or much to show that today was different from any other.
"In all the camps we are happy about this news, we wish it had happened sooner" says Al-Tayeb Hamid, who has lived here for five years.
So why such a muted reaction?
"I am sure there will be a demonstration in the coming days," he says.
Aid delivery
Our temporary radio studio set up in the sand, with a loudly braying donkey providing an authentic soundtrack, attracted an interested crowd of women and children.
"If they arrest him that will bring peace and security to Darfur," says one of the women sitting in the shade of a tin-roofed UNHCR building. "All we want is to go home," she adds.
"Would it be better if President Bashir had been indicted for genocide as well?" we asked cautiously.
She turns to her neighbour, who looks bashful. They whisper a few words to each other and eventually they turn back and smile, not sure what to say.
As we journalists argue frantically with editors in London and kick malfunctioning equipment, a steady stream of ladies dressed in stunning yellow and orange striped fabric glide silently past with grain sacks and water balanced on their heads.
The children start to wander off. Today's food distribution by the UN's World Food Programme seems to be the new show in town.
No return
Farchana is home to Massalit, Zaghawa and Erenga people from Darfur. It is one of 12 camps containing 250,000 refugees dotted along the Chad-Sudan border.
With access to healthcare and education for their children, many refugees have managed to rebuild something of their lives, but it remains virtually impossible to return home to Darfur.
And that is why today's judgement is so significant, as these refugees who have so little to hope for clearly recognise.
Someone is finally being held accountable for their suffering, and the outside world is taking an interest.
"We believe that if he really is arrested and taken to The Hague, that will be the end of it," says refugee Mohammed Al-Fadl as we pack up to leave.
"We want that to happen as soon as possible."
Bashir vows to defy Darfur chargeThe International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for Sudan's president on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur.
But the ICC in The Hague stopped short of accusing Omar al-Bashir of genocide. He denies the charges and has dismissed any ruling by the court as worthless.
Thousands of protesters took to the streets of the capital, Khartoum, after the announcement, amid fears of unrest.
The UN estimates 300,000 people have died in Darfur's six-year conflict.
Millions more have been displaced.
Court spokeswoman Laurence Blairon announced the ruling by a panel of judges on the charges presented by ICC prosecutors.
She said Mr Bashir was suspected of being criminally responsible for "intentionally directing attacks against an important part of the civilian population of Darfur, Sudan, murdering, exterminating, raping, torturing and forcibly transferring large numbers of civilians and pillaging their property".Ms Blairon said the violence in Darfur was the result of a common plan organised at the highest level of the Sudanese government, but there was no evidence of genocide.
The court would transmit a request for Mr Bashir's arrest and surrender as soon as possible to the Sudanese government, she added.
It is the first warrant issued by The Hague-based UN court against a sitting head of state.
ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo made the request for the warrant in July 2008.
'Toothless'
Reacting to the charges, an aide to Mr Bashir said the ICC judges were biased.
"This decision is exactly what we have been expecting from the court, which was created to target Sudan and to be part of the new mechanism of neo-colonialism," Mustafa Othman Ismail told Sudanese TV. announcement, Mr Bashir said the Hague tribunal could "eat" the arrest warrant.
He said it would "not be worth the ink it is written on" and then danced for thousands of cheering supporters who burned an effigy of the ICC chief prosecutor.
Sudan expert Alex de Waal told the BBC the indictment is "pretty toothless" as the ICC does not have a police force.
In Khartoum thousands of government supporters gathered, chanting "We love you President Bashir".
Security was increased at many embassies, and some Westerners stayed home amid fears of retaliation.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon urged Sudan to "co-operate fully" with all United Nations entities.
He said the UN would "continue to conduct its vital peacekeeping, humanitarian, human rights and development operations and activities in Sudan".
African and Arab countries have warned that the court's action will only increase tension in Sudan.
Egypt said it was "greatly disturbed" by the ICC's decision and called for a meeting of the UN Security Council to defer implementation of the warrant.
Sudan's foreign ministry said President Bashir would ignore it and attend an Arab summit scheduled later this month in Qatar.
Aid workers withdrawn
Russia called the warrant a "dangerous precedent".
Darfur's Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) rebel group hailed the decision as a "victory for international law" and called on Mr Bashir to turn himself in. The US administration also welcomed it, as did international human-rights groups.
"With this arrest warrant, the International Criminal Court has made Omar al-Bashir a wanted man," said Richard Dicker of the New York-based group Human Rights Watch.
Amnesty International called on any country visited by President Bashir to detain him.
Sudan expelled at least six foreign aid agencies hours after the arrest warrant was issued, aid officials said. No reasons were given for the move.
Before the announcement, the charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said it had withdrawn foreign staff from Darfur.
The war crimes court has already issued two arrest warrants - in 2007 - for Sudanese Humanitarian Affairs Minister Ahmed Haroun and the Janjaweed militia leader Ali Abdul Rahman.
Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has angrily rejected the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) against him.
Mr Bashir told thousands of cheering supporters in the capital that Sudan would not "kneel" to colonialists.
He said he defied outsiders to come to Sudan and talk about human rights.
He is accused of two counts of war crimes and five of crimes against humanity in Darfur, in the first ICC warrant for a serving head of state.
Mr Bashir, 65, told a rally in the city's Martyrs Square: "We are telling the colonialists we are not succumbing; we are not submitting; we will not kneel; we are targeted because we refuse to submit." an emergency meeting on Thursday to send a high-level delegation to press the UN Security Council to delay the indictment.
Bruno Zidouemba, of the AU's Peace and Security Council, said the 53-member bloc hoped the move would "give a chance for peace in Sudan".
Sudan's envoy had earlier told the meeting that African states should withdraw from the international tribunal.
Mohieldin Ahmed Salim had urged the AU in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa to "issue a clear decision in strongest terms to reject the ICC decision," according to AFP new agency.
Asked whether the arrest warrant would affect President Bashir's ability to travel, Mr Salim said Sudan's leader would travel if he wanted to and would carry out his normal duties as head of state.
China, which buys much of Sudan's oil and sells it weapons, has also urged the court to postpone the case, warning it risked destabilising Darfur.
Some Arab nations have echoed fears that the ruling would hinder Darfur peace efforts, but the US and EU have welcomed Wednesday's ICC decision.
Sudan reacted to the ICC indictment by expelling 10 foreign aid agencies, including Oxfam, Care, Save the Children UK and Medecins Sans Frontieres from Darfur.
Between them they supply food and water to some 1.5 million people who have fled their homes during the six-year conflict.
The agencies say lives will be put at risk but the government insists the aid groups all have political agendas and are using their humanitarian activities as cover.
'Lions and tigers'
Thursday's rally in the capital was the latest show of public support for Sudan's veteran leader.
The BBC's Owen Bennett-Jones in Khartoum says pro-Bashir supporters, some in cars with loud-speakers, shouted slogans denouncing the West. "We are lions and we have tigers," Mr Bashir told the crowd, waving his walking stick in the air. "We will carry on rejecting colonialism."
He said the ICC, together with the UN Security Council and the International Monetary Fund, were trying to "colonise people anew and steal their resources".
"They claim that human rights are being violated in Sudan," he said. "We defy them to come here in Sudan and show us what's happening here."
On Wednesday, the ICC accused Mr Bashir of responsibility for a campaign of extermination, rape and pillage during the Darfur conflict.
Mr Bashir was charged with two counts of war crimes: intentionally directing attacks against civilians and pillaging.
He is also accused of five crimes against humanity counts: murder; extermination; forcible transfer; torture and rape.
But the tribunal at The Hague rejected a further allegation of genocide, saying there was insufficient evidence.
The UN estimates that 300,000 people have died and 2.7 million displaced in Darfur, since black African rebels took up arms against the Arab-dominated regime demanding a greater share of resources and power.
