Al-Bashir waving his baton during his visit to Darfur – AFP Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir has threatened to expel NGOs, foreign diplomats and UN forces deployed in Sudan if they do not respect his country's laws.
He said so in a speech he delivered in front of thousands of supporters in Darfur’s historic capital Al-Fasher. This was his first visit to Darfur since the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant against him on charges of war crimes there.
"If diplomatic missions and peacekeeping forces in Sudan cross their limits, we will kick them out of the country straight away" he said.
"The ICC prosecutor, the members of the court, its prosecutors and every one who supports this court can go to hell" he added.
"They told us that it we let NGOs work, they would freeze the arrest warrant against the President, but we refused that."
The Sudanese Defense Minister, Lieutenant General Abdel Rahim Mohamed Hussein, said that the "road map" to get out of the crisis sparked by the ICC decision started yesterday with al-Bashir’s visit to Darfur. Other tours will follow, he added.
The autonomous South Sudan government urged Khartoum to reconsider the decision to expel the aid organizations.
South Sudan Information Minister Gabriel Changson Chang said he hoped Khartoum would allow these organizations to resume their work.
He added that South Sudan leader Salva Kiir had raised the issue during his meeting with al-Bashir.
Chang said that humanitarian organizations could continue working in South Sudan, adding that they would not be affected and were indeed welcome.