Sudanese President Omer al- Bashir has announced his refusal of discharging a government minister who had been accused by the International Criminal Court (ICC) of committing war crimes in the western Sudanese region of Darfur, Sudan's Sudani Daily reported on Monday.

Ahmad Muhammad Harun, currently state minister for humanitarian affairs, would "not resign, nor be deposed, nor be interrogated again," al-Bashir was quoted by the Arabic-language newspaper as saying.

On Feb. 27, the ICC's chief prosecutor issued a statement accusing Harun, along with Darfur Arab militia leader Ali Kushayb, of a total of 51 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity in 2003 and 2004.

Al-Bashir termed the statement of the ICC's chief prosecutor as "one link in a chain of conspiracies against Sudan," adding that " it will not be the last link of the evil chain."

"With our resolution and steadfastness we can break every link of the evil chain," the Sudanese president said.

He said that his country would not respond to the political blackmail and would not accept any pressure from any party.

The Sudanese president said that Harun had been doing his duties of defending the lives of the citizens and their properties as the state minister for internal affairs at that time, adding that the interrogations carried out with him by the Sudanese authorities had proved his innocence.

Source: Xinhua