Sudan’s president tours Darfur

President al Bashir has spent the past two days touring Darfur, portraying himself as someone who has brought peace, not devastation, to Darfur. This analyst says this is a show of defiance to the world that he is still in charge of Darfur and Sudan and there are Darfuris who support him. She says this trip was definitely in response to the ICC charges. As if to underscore his peacemaking credentials, Bashir announced he would grant amnesty to dozens of children arrested by government forces during a government attack on rebels in May. This analyst says Bashir’s tour is part of an aggressive PR campaign. But the image of national unity is misleading, he says. Still he acknowledges the regime’s theatrics have been effective at mobilizing opinion against the ICC.