'What goes around comes around'- (Anonymous)

By Ding Yian, JUBA

When the ICC finally announced the indictment of President Al Beshir, the majority of Sudanese political forces came out in full force to condemn the indictment. In most regions of Sudan people of all walks of life took to the streets to condemn the ICC indictment calling it "a Western design to dismember Sudan and a blatant interference in Sudan 's internal affairs".

Political rallies and legal lectures were organized in which politicians and legal experts challenged the ICC's legitimate mandate to indict not only a sitting president but also Sudan 's President whose country is not Party to the Rome Statute. The Sudan political establishment in an effort to gain support for the cancellation or deferment of President Al Bashir's indictment, sent special teams to both AU and UN member countries.

While Sudan was battling against this Western neo-colonialism some African leaders looked on scornfully at Sudan 's efforts to fight back to maintain its sovereignty and independence. It never occurred to them that what went could come around too since their houses were built of glass.

Now let these African leaders swallow this bitter news: American playboy Koffi Annan has given Ocampo- the devil's advocate - a list of twelve Kenyan politicians including ministers to be indicted for their part in last year 's Kenyan ethnic conflict. Ocampo is reported to have said that even President Kibaki and his Prime Minister Odinga could also be included in the list if and when he chooses.

Hard luck for these Kenyan leaders, their chickens have finally come home to roost.

This African predicament reminds me of a story I heard from our great leader, late Dr. John Garang. Addressing some recruits and urging them to unite he said, there were three white, red and black bulls who lived in the forest. One day a lion came to talk to them about something. When the lion arrived he made sure that he talked to each bull separately. The lion told each bull separately that it was the only friend he could trust and count on.

So each night the lion would come and attack and kill each of the bulls. Despite hearing the cries of their colleague no bull will dare to go to help until they were all eaten by the lion.

Now when we were fighting against the ICC's impunity of interfering in our internal affairs the rest of Africa thought it was a special Sudanese case that needed no interference. Little did the rest of African leaders know that the whole scheme was not only meant for Sudan, but it was a Western attempt to re-colonize Africa, and the Third World for that matter, by other means?

The Sudan has all along, since the beginning of the indictment crisis, cautioned African leaders not to catch the genocide bait and side with the West. They should ask themselves these questions before dancing to the tune of Western neo-imperialism disguised as human rights, peace and justice:

There were many wars fought in Sudan since 1955 and millions of lives were lost. This number is even greater by far than the one being termed genocide; why is it that only the conflict in Darfur is being classified as genocide? Why is the massacre of Palestinians by Israel not considered as genocide?

If the West is keen to see peace and human rights prevail in the world under the due care of the ICC, why are the Americans, French and the British opposed to trial of their citizens by the ICC when they violate these so-called universal principles?

To date most of the indicted at The Hague hail from Africa because Western countries have arrogated for themselves "self-determined immunity from moral truisms". They have accorded themselves the right to wage war at will, under guises of "anticipatory self defense and pre-emptive strikes".

To comfort the poor Africans I can predict with a degree of certainty that this Western arrogance will disappear one day and history is our witness.

Once upon a time on this very earth there existed great and powerful empires like the Roman, Ottoman and even in modern times, the British Empire but their power disappeared and today some of these once powerful empires are weak militarily and economically.

The familiar theory of physics, "what goes up must come down" is not only applicable to objects but to humans and their civilizations too.

With these comforting words I would to appeal to our African leaders to be visionary and not to sell their freedom and that of their people for only a few quilts which was by the way stolen from their people after all.

Let African leaders not repeat what happened centuries ago when tribal kings and chiefs sold their people into slavery for a few toys.