Sudan has warned that an ICC move against Bashir and top officials could undermine attempts to solve the Darfur conflict. (Reuters)

KHARTOUM — Thousands of Sudanese rallied in the capital Khartoum on Sunday, July 13, to protest plans by the International Criminal Court (ICC) to seek an arrest warrant for President Omar al-Bashir for alleged war crimes in Darfur.

"The Sudanese people are all rejecting this -- this is America targeting Sudan," Awad Ahmed, a worker from the agriculture ministry, told Reuters.

"We will not send Bashir. We would die first."

The protestors chanted anti-Western slogans as they marched through the streets of Khartoum towards the offices of the United Nations.

"With our souls, with our blood we die for Bashir," the protesters chanted.

They also carried banners reading "Down, down USA" and "You are joking Ocampo," referring to ICC chief prosecutor Luis Morno-Ocampo.

"The ICC does just what the European Union, the United States of America and Israel tell it to do," the protesters said in a statement to be delivered to the UN offices.

Morno-Ocampo is expected on Monday, July 14, to issue an arrest warrant for Bashir on alleged war crimes in Darfur.

Sudan has warned that an ICC move against Bashir and top officials could undermine attempts to solve the Darfur conflict.

The Hague-based ICC issued in April of last year arrest warrants for Sudanese State Minister for Humanitarian Affairs Ahmed Harun and militia leader Kosheib on charges of committing crimes in Darfur.

Sudan, which is not a party to the ICC statute, has refused to hand over the two men.

Suspension

Two government official said Sudan would probably seek Chinese, Russian and African support at the United Nations to help block a warrant for Bashir.

The UN Security Council can pass a resolution suspending an ICC warrant or investigation for 12 months, which can be extended further.

Khartoum also requested crisis talks at the Arab League to discuss the ICC move.

"We are now mediating in all diplomatic channels to gain support ... and to stop this effort by the ICC which is an unprecedented move which will not only harm peace in Sudan but peace and stability in the whole region," Sudan's ambassador to the Arab League Abdel Moneim Mabrouk told Reuters.

The Darfur conflict broke out when rebels took up arms against the Khartoum regime accusing it of discrimination.

The UN estimates some 300,000 people have died from the combined effects of war, famine and disease in Darfur, a region the size of France. Khartoum puts the death toll at 10,000.

Up to 2 million have been forced out of their homes in the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.