Leader of largest Islamic group calls upon all states to abandon ICC membership.

Leader of largest Islamic group calls upon all states to abandon ICC membership.

“ICC is a double standard discriminatory court which issues its decisions on an unbalanced scale.”

By Tahir Sema

Mr. Mahdi Akef leader of the Muslim Brotherhood movement in Egypt has called all Arab and Islamic states as well as Eastern and Western state members of The Hague International Criminal Court (ICC) to walkout and abandon their membership, “in order not to participate in a double standard discriminatory court which issues its decisions on an unbalanced scale, according to the American and Zionist policies.”

Mr. Mahdi Akef in a statement to IkhwanWeb, condemned the decision by the ICC to arrest the Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, emphasizing that “this decision exceeds the limits of law, justice and political decorum and is part of an unending double standard series, the new world order follows.”

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir is accused by the International Criminal Court of masterminding a campaign of extermination, rape and pillage during the six-year conflict in Darfur.
According to media reports up to 300,000 people have died and 2.7 million have fled their homes
in the region since the war in Darfur began in 2003, which was sparked by ethnic African groups, complaining of discrimination and neglect, as they took up arms against the Arab-dominated government in Khartoum.
The arrest warrant by the Netherlands-based International Criminal Court is the tribunals first against a sitting head of state. Humanitarian aid agencies based in Sudan and other international officials said, they will continue to deal with Omar al-Bashir in Sudan since he remains the president of the country.
The leader of the Muslim Brotherhood stressed that the prosecutor in this case is politically blackmailing the entire Arab nation, not only Sudan, as this is the main reason for the trial, not as alleged, to prosecute a war criminal.

“If it were true that the ICC has actual grounds for such a ruling, it should have sought the arrest of American officials and their allies as well, for their crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan. The same kind of treatment should be dealt to the officials of the Zionist entity for their crimes in Palestine, in Gaza in particular” Said Mahdi Akef.

He called on Arab and Islamic countries in particular to take a unified stance, “rejecting the court’s decision and declaring solidarity with Sudan, not for al-Bashir but in defense of the Arab and Islamic will, facing the attempts to make the nation kneel down and to blackmail governments and regimes. This requires a unified stance, for governments to stand together with their people” said Akef.
Meanwhile on Thursday Omar al-Bashir spoke out for the first time since he became an international fugitive in the eyes of the ICC and its member states, saying that his arrest on war crimes charges is a conspiracy aimed at destabilizing the country and disrupting peace efforts in Darfur.
In a televised cabinet meeting al-Bashir said, the court, the United Nations and international organizations operating in Sudan were "tools of the new colonialism" meant to bring Sudan and its resources under control, "an attempt to get at Sudan".
In the recent flurry of international condemnation over the ICC’s decision, China which buys two-thirds of Sudan's petroleum exports in a statement said, attempts by the International Criminal Court to arrest Sudan's leader on war crimes will only hurt efforts to bring peace and stability to the war-scarred Darfur region.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said that China backed a call by African and Arab countries to have the arrest warrant dropped. "China opposes anything that could disrupt efforts to realize peace in Darfur and in Sudan".

Thousands gathered on Thursday in Khartoum's Martyrs Square shouting support for Sudan's veteran leader and denouncing ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo.
It was at this gathering that the Sudanese President echoed the sentiments and concerns of the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, Sudan’s people, African countries and many other Arab nations who believe that the ICC’s decision is unfair and unjust.
In the strongest of words and the backdrop of continuous applaud from his supporters al-Bashir dismissed an international arrest warrant against him for war crimes, telling a mass rally in Khartoum that Western leaders were the real criminals. "The true criminals are the leaders of the United States and Europe".