Since the International Criminal Court's (ICC) prosecutor asked for an arrest warrant for President Omar Hassan al-Bashir of Sudan a few days ago, there haven't been many big reactions in the Sudanese blogosphere (although we covered reactions of several bloggers elsewhere in Africa in this roundup). Activity in the Sudanese blogosphere is at an all time low. However, the Sudanese debate has been alive and full of passion on Facebook.

Reactions from Sudanese bloggers
Three Sudanese bloggers, Ras Babi, The Sudanese Thinker (disclosure: it's me), and Black Kush, have been among the few that commented on the matter.

Black Kush rolled out a sequence of posts on the issue as it progressed where he wrote the following:

SO Bashir has been indicted by the ICC. So what comes next now?

The ICC prosecutor has taken the boldest step ever. Charging a sitting head of state fo genocide can get him a round of applause,but that is leaving lots of people wary of the future.

So far the armageddon predicted has not happened, yet. No UN staff has been shot in the street and no car-jackings reported in Khartoum. Were the fears groundless?

Not at all. There are lots of people out there in the street who are stupid enough to start anything. It may not be the official response of the government, but some lunatics may take the lawlessness into their hands and rick havoc.

I personally think it was a wrong move on the part of the ICC. Now that he has made his point, I think UN Security Council should suspend the possible arrest warrant from being issued.

Ras Babi, as he usually does, wrote a short poem:

is it true?
the Arabs support you…
is it true?
some Sudanese stand with you….
…
Hitler had his fans
Franco had his fans
it is true…
they have gone
…..
China will sell you
Russia became like you
too bad too trust
….
you brought to us
genocide
janjaweed
Russians and Chinese
polluting our land
stealing our resources

Sudanese Thinker published his analysis and shared two photos he found in a very active Sudanese Facebook group discussing the ICC's decision, which he thought summed up the extremes of Sudanese opinion on the matter rather well -from rational debate to rejecting responsibility and conspiracy theories.

Reactions from Sudanese Facebookers
The aforementioned Facebook group where the most heated discussions are taking place is called:

“معا ضد المحكمة الجنائية الدولية . فلنتحد لنصرة الرئيس عمر البشير” (translation: “Together Against the ICC. Let’s Unite for President Omar al-Bashir’s Victory”)

The group was started by a Sudanese and currently has over 2,700 members, virtually all Sudanese as well. While a sizable number of the members oppose the Sudanese regime, the group clearly leans on the side of condemning the ICC's decision. The following are some random quotes from a thread representing the diverse opinions in the group fairly well.

Gino Mino:

Did people forget that Al-Bashir took power by force, that he executed and murdered countless Sudanese, that under his watch Millions of Sudanese died in warfare and from extreme poverty, that he and his cronies dragged the name of Sudan to the gutter that today it's on every tongue as a terrorist sponsoring nation?

Wake up ya Sudanese… AlBashir is a criminal and it's about time that he is cornered!

Khadega Malik:

He deserves worse than international court. He deserves Allah's Justice. Where he would face soon in his grave
… I am with the international court if it can at least achieve the goal of embarassing him internationally.

Ayman Ayman:

You know nothing…..and u will be the first people to cry…..shut up
… Admin please kick them out

Khadega Malik:

Believe me, you will be the one to CRY, and I will remind you there INSHA ALLAH. Someone like you who is that blind, would be the one to CRY.

Gino Mino:

Why should we be kicked out? We have not used profanity nor have we insulted only one. We have expressed nothing but the truth… why are you so afraid of the truth!?!

… and sorry we will not shut up, I thought AlBashir is implementing democracy now in Sudan, so you are obliged to listen to our point of view :)

Sana Ali:

first of allll ya Gino and Khadega no hard feelings but am replying to this topic with all due respect to both of you guys! stating my opinion…ok? alright….I really am surprised that it came down to this and that the ICC finally found a way to try to get to sudan! I dont’ noe about u guys but it almost seems like a plan to take down allllllll muslim countries and not only that but also stop the ones that are somewhat prosporing from moving forward and excelling! its kind of ironic…none the less, al bashir did everything to stand behind sudan and suport it ..he made sudan one of the VERY FEW countries that are not bowing dowing and kissin the feet of the US or the UN

Yassir A.gamma:

Man f*ck u and f*ck ur sick cheap sneaky disloyal thoughts too…

Khaled M. Khaled:

heeeey yasir dont flip out. it ain't worth it.every one has the right to express his own opinion.

Sally Osama:

Its so sad for me to see my fellow Sudanese rip each other off..even if we are against ElBashir political views how can you support US taking over our country??

Sara Ibrahim Haddad:

ok, people are really angering me right now….with all this “AMERICA WILL INVADE”

AMERICA
IS
NOT
AND
WILL
NOT
INVADE
SUDAN

so stop bringing up america because u want someone to blame because u dont want to hold accountable the REAL people to blame!!

Bashier is a devil!! shaytan!!! along with other african corrupted leaders…sudan's image is tarnished globally…..and we have people agreeing with bashier??! are u crazy? OR ARE U JUST SCARED OF HIM?

Moreover, it is a positive sign to see Sudanese flocking to Facebook – not so much the blogosphere – to express their opinions freely and without authoritarian restrictions.