Earlier this month, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, accusing him of “being criminally responsible, as an indirect (co-)perpetrator, for intentionally directing attacks against an important part of the civilian population of Darfur, Sudan, murdering, exterminating, raping, torturing and forcibly transferring large numbers of civilians, and pillaging their property.”  For a court of dubious legitimacy, this was a step in the right direction: during the past six years, the Sudanese-backed Janjaweed militias have murdered hundreds of thousands of non-Arabs in Darfur, displacing millions of civilians in the process.

For Egypt, however, one principle apparently trumps the gravity of Bashir’s crimes: Arab nationalism.  On Wednesday, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak welcomed Bashir in Cairo, boldly expressing his solidarity with the international outlaw.  In a press conference, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit stated that Mubarak’s meetings with Bashir touched on the “humanitarian difficulties” in Darfur - with the priority being preventing any and all international intervention in “Arab issues.”  In this vein, Egypt is leading the fight to preserve Sudan’s relations with the broader Arab world, insisting that Bashir be permitted to attend the upcoming Arab League summit in Doha.  As Abul-Gheit reiterated, “This is an Arab issue.”

It is small events such as this one that so perfectly illustrate the disturbing lack of moral clarity that characterizes too much of the Middle East, providing cover for some of the worst abusers of human rights in the world.  Most outrageously, this lack of clarity is hardly unique to the region’s unpopular authoritarian regimes.  In this vein, the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood’s deputy supreme guide hailed Mubarak’s meeting with Bashir, declaring that the ICC’s warrant for Bashir’s arrest is “intended to fragment Sudan” and therefore poses “a threat to Egyptian national security.”  Meanwhile, the Wafd party’s official newspaper repeated the common claim that concerns for Darfur are simply a “a Zionist-American conspiracy.”

Thus far, Ayman Nour seems to be the only Egyptian political figure criticizing Bashir’s visit in Cairo.  Sadly, Nour is too occupied with other things to make a meaningful impact on this issue.

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