Arrest warrant boosted my popularity, says Sudan's Al-Bashir

Mar 20, 2010, 14:24 GMT

Berlin - Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir said the international arrest warrant against him had unexpectedly increased his popularity, in a interview in Germany on Saturday.

'The International Court of Justice (ICC) has done me a favour which I would never have dreamt of. My popularity in my home country has unexpectedly multiplied through this arrest warrant,' Al-Bashir told Spiegel news magazine.

The Hague-based ICC issued an arrest warrant last year on charges that Al-Bashir presided over crimes against humanity committed in the government's campaign against the rebels.

The president dismissed the allegations, and denied that his government had unleashed Janjaweed militia to slaughter civilians and burn villages.

'From the start, it was a conspiracy orchestrated from abroad that politically, militarily and financially supported the rebellion in Darfur,' Al-Bashir said.

He also said US 'inconsistencies' with regard to Sudan could only be explained because 'powerful interest groups influence the US government.'

'The actual decision makers in the US, as well as the FBI and CIA, know very well that what is being disseminated about Sudan is not true,' Al-Bashir said in the interview to appear in Monday's edition of Spiegel magazine.

The president said that, despite the international arrest warrant, he had several African and international allies.

'We enjoy best relations with South Africa,' Al-Bashir said, adding that President Jacob Zuma was due to visit after Sudanese elections in April. Al-Bashir said he also planned to visit Venezuela after the vote, in response to a 'personal invitation.'

Al-Bashir said he supported Hamas and Hezbollah in their 'legitimate fight against the Israeli occupation,' in the Middle East, as well as supporting the resistance to the 'American invaders in Iraq and Afghanistan.'

The president said US withdrawal from Sudan's oil industry had paved the way for better deals with Chinese, Indian and Malay companies.

'The Americans had kept 70 per cent of the oil revenues for themselves,' Al-Bashir said. 'Today the (Sudanese) government gets 70 per cent.' He added that the Chinese provided training and mostly employed Sudanese engineers.

Al-Bashir said the Sudanese elections in April would pave the way for a referendum on whether to grant independence to the oil-rich south of the country.

'Such an important historical event can only be decided by legitimized representatives of the people,' the president said, explaining that the decision was not the result of international pressure.