President Bashir has blamed the violence in Darfur on the rebellion but the prosecutor at the ICC says that’s a flimsy alibi and does not explain for raping women. Sudanese leaders reacted to those words with anger and defiance. This Sudanese official said the ICC’s charges are an exercise in western neo-colonialism. There was also fear of a backlash in Khartoum and that backlash might jeopardize negotiations and peace talks, as this Sudan analyst says. The analyst says the other fear is that the Darfur rebels would be emboldened and step up their campaign.