By Peter Martell 
BBC News, Khartoum
5 March 2009


Waving a stick in the air in front of a supportive crowd of  thousands, Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir punched the air to roars of support.
He looked little like a man on his first full day as an international fugitive - following an arrest warrant on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity.


Some 10,000 protesters crammed themselves into central Khartoum in support of the president, following the issuing on Wednesday of an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court.


Instead Mr Bashir scoffed at the warrant, telling the mass rally in the packed downtown district of Khartoum that Western leaders were the real criminals.


He in turn accused the United States of genocide against the Native American Indians, as well as in Vietnam and in the atomic bombing of Hiroshima in 1945.


"The true criminals are the leaders of the United States and Europe," he told the crowds to loud cheers.


"One day we will take them to justice," he added.


It was not clear if the president was joking, but the crowd loved it.


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