President Omer al-Bashir at Khartoum airport after his return from Addis Ababa where he received the African Dignity Award on 30 July 2016 (SUNA Photo)

Al-Bashir returned to Khartoum on Saturday from Addis Ababa where he received the the African Dignity Award from the African Initiative for Pride and Dignity (AIPD) in recognition of his efforts in Africa.

He was received at Khartoum airport by large crowds and senior government officials including the First Vice-President Bakri Hassan Salih.

Al-Bashir, who appeared wearing a red bobble cloak and sat on a royal chair in a high platform, addressed the crowed saying he wouldn’t succumb to the ICC, saying the western countries don’t recognize that he represents the Sudanese people.

“We would destroy all institutions of injustice and liberate Africa from the modern political and economic colonization … we are firmly embedded like mountains and .we wouldn’t kneel down,” he said.

The Sudanese President is under two ICC arrest warrants since 2008 for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes allegedly committed in Darfur.

Al-Bashir swore by Almighty Allah (God) three times before the crowed, saying he will always take stances that make the Sudanese people proud of themselves.

“All our decisions and moves were inspired the Sudanese people who don’t accept the injustice,” he said.

He said that his government has implemented peace agreements for the sake of peace not to be thanked by other people, pointing that Sudan opened its borders to receive refugees from Ethiopia, Eritrea and West Africa when drought hit the region in 1984 despite the fact that it had suffered from famine.

The Sudanese President further thanked Africa, Ethiopia, Addis Ababa University and Africa’s scholars and expert for honouring him.

It is noteworthy that the AIPD was launched by the Addis Ababa University on Tuesday 25 and ended on 29 July.

The initiative aims at basing Africans development efforts on Africans Indigenous Knowledge systems.

It was launched in partnership with the United Nations University for Peace (UP-EACE), the Islamic Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO), Chair of Cultural Diversity based at the International Relations Institute in Cameroon, the Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies African Network,Tanzania and Centre for the Study of Peace and Human Rights in Sudan.