Sudan: ‘Al Bashir deserves Nobel prize’–‘Al Bashir should step down’

According to the Sudanese Minister of Information, President Omar Al Bashir is a man of peace who should have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for ending the war between Khartoum and the southern Sudanese rebels in 2005.Conversely, the leader of the opposition National Umma Party (NUP) has called on Al Bashir to step down, suggesting a kind of “soft exit” for him with regard to the indictment by the International Criminal Court (ICC). “President Al Bashir is being threatened with an ICC arrest warrant for alleged war crimes in Darfur,” Information Minister Ahmed Bilal told James Butty of VOA News in an interview published today, “instead of being praised and encouraged for his efforts.” Bilal said that Khartoum cares little about the ICC. “Let me tell you one thing: Our president is a man of peace. He stopped the longest war in Africa. Instead of giving him Nobel [Peace] Prize, he’s being called before the ICC. Instead praising him or encouraging him and saying that he’s doing good things to his neighbors, you are raising this talk of ICC problems. We don’t care about the ICC; we said we do care about good relations with its neighbours.” He stressed that Sudan needs assistance, not accusations.The Sudanese president has been charged with crimes against humanity, war crimes, and genocide in Darfur. The ICC issued warrants for his arrest in March 2009, and July 2010. ‘Soft exit’ The president of the NUP, El Sadig El Mahdi, however, urged Al Bashir not to extend his already 25 years of rule. The indictment by the ICC is preventing Al Bashir to step down, as his successors may arrest him, and hand him to the Court, El Mahdi told Reuters in an interview published on Tuesday. “We as people who want change in Sudan look for a transition that would involve some kind of soft exit for him,” the Umma Party leader said. “If he becomes part of a solution, I think we can persuade all that he’s entitled to a different type of treatment… But if change comes in spite of his resistance… whoever comes to power will find it necessary to hand him over to the ICC.”El Mahdi also pointed to younger NCP members who are expressing increasing frustration with the old guard of hardliners who refuse to make room for a new generation.He furthermore said that there “can be no elections under this regime”, and called on all opposition parties to boycott the polls. Voters’ registration On Tuesday, voters’ registration started for the presidential and parliamentary elections scheduled to take place in April 2015. Many people in Sudan’s capital of Khartoum, however, told journalists that they will ignore the elections. They are opposed to an extension of Al Bashir’s rule, and said that they are not interested in registering to vote in elections of which the results “are known in advance”. File photo: President Omar Al Bashir (Getty)  Related:Villagers in Sudan’s White Nile to boycott elections (29 October 2014)ICC prosecutor at Darfur Women’s symposium in US capital (28 October 2014)‘Khartoum’s financial policies crime against Sudan’: economist (28 October 2014) ‘Ruling party manages Sudan through private companies’: economist (26 October 2014)Sudan’s rebels, international Muslim scholars tell Al Bashir to leave (27 October 2014) ‘Al Bashir nomination complicates Sudan’s crises’: opposition (24 October 2014) Al Bashir NCP candidate for Sudan’s 2015 elections (22 October 2014)