Sudan's Bashir viewed in Mideast as victim of West

By Alistair Lyon

BEIRUT (Reuters) - A curious consensus has emerged in the Middle East to support Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir, seen as a victim of Western malice, regardless of his innocence or guilt.

From Iran to Saudi Arabia, the message is the same: the arrest warrant for Bashir issued this month by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for crimes against humanity in the Darfur conflict is an affront to Sudan's sovereignty.

Some echo Bashir's line that the Hague-based ICC is a tool of imperialists who covet Sudan's oil, gas and other resources, or voice concern that the indictment could cripple peace efforts in the Darfur region and further destabilise the country.

Others decry the perceived double standards in international justice where alleged war crimes by Israel against Lebanese or Palestinians, or by the United States in Iraq, go unpunished.

But hypocrisy cuts both ways.

Many of the Middle Eastern powers that cry foul over the indictment of Bashir have skeletons in their own human rights closets and fear the legal precedent set by the ICC.

"That's why they are in solidarity with Bashir. They are acting in their own self-interest, for self-preservation," said Hisham Kassem, an Egyptian rights activist.

Such solidarity is nothing new. Arab leaders have rarely, if ever, criticised their peers for human rights violations.