Sudan's President pledges peace

EL GENEINA (Sudan)  - Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir paraded as a man of peace on Thursday as he wrapped up a heavily protected tour of Darfur defying accusations that he masterminded genocide in the region.
Wearing a safari suit, shades and a giant ring, he danced on stage and beat his silver-topped cane to nationalist music as several thousand people fanned themselves in the scorching heat of the West Darfur state capital El Geneina.
On his second day of a tour of the three government-controlled state capitals in the vast western region, Bashir presented himself as a man of peace despite stalled international efforts to find a political solution.
“We will exclude no one (from peace): tribal leaders, politicians, signatory movements and even non-signatories,” he told the crowd who wilted under the sun but responded to the Islamic slogan chanting habitual at Bashir rallies.
He is the first head of state accused by International Criminal Court prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo on 10 counts of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide in Sudan’s western region of Darfur, gripped by more than five years of war.
He faces a possible international arrest warrant for allegedly ordering his forces to annihilate three non-Arab groups in Darfur, masterminding murder, torture, pillaging and using rape to commit genocide.
Bashir spent two days dancing and talking about peace to thousands of supporters, promising to do whatever possible to allow the displaced to return home but giving no specifics on his first visit to Darfur in a year.
“We don’t need lessons from anyone. We don’t need to be told how to behave. Peace is the responsibility of Darfuris,” he said in El Geneina, adding he had come to Darfur to “share the pain” of the people and listen to their requests.
Bashir has inaugurated development projects and met state and UN officials, but avoided the sprawling impoverished camps for the more than 2.2 million people estimated to have been displaced by the war.
Two helicopters circled overhead as schoolchildren, government employees, tribesmen perched on the backs of camels and women attended an organised rally where loudspeakers blared out speeches from officials and traditional music.