I’m not guilty, pleads Bashir

• Sudanese President says he had a duty to suppress rebellion in the Darfur region

Asked if he would stand for re-election next year, President Bashir said it was for the Sudanese people to decide. “If they support us, who should say that we should leave,” he added.

Mr Bashir is the first sitting president to be charged by the Hague-based court since it was set up in 2002.

He responded by ordering 10 foreign aid agencies to leave Sudan and embarked on a series of visits to countries that opposed the ICC indictment, including Qatar, Ethiopia and Egypt.

The conflict in Darfur began when mostly non-Arab rebels took up arms against the government in 2003.

Non-Arab farmers

They accused Khartoum of discriminating against non-Arab farmers in Darfur in favour of Arab tribes.

In another development, eastern Sudan’s state of Gadarif and Ethiopian region of Tigray have agreed to a regional cooperation in the areas of trade culture, controlling communicable human and animal diseases and environmental protection.

A deal between the two regions marks the implementation of the resolutions of the 11th conference of Sudan–Ethiopia border development, concluded last March in Al-Damazin, Sudan.

The president of Tigray region, Mr Tsegay Berhe and the governor of Gadarif, Mr Al-Daw Osman Hassan Al-Faki, signed a memorandum of understanding to develop bilateral relations at the end of their meeting on Tuesday.

The mayors of Gadarif and Mekelle signed a town twining agreement to foster human and cultural links between the two regional capitals.