CAIRO: Sudan s President Omar Al-Bashir has told a pan-Arab TV network he would go to war and ask Darfur peacekeepers to leave if the International Criminal Court formally indicts him and seeks his arrest.

Al-Bashir was interviewed by Al-Arabiya Wednesday during a visit to Turkey. It was Al-Bashir s first trip abroad since the ICC prosecutor accused him of directing genocide in Darfur. The ICC will make a decision in weeks on whether to issue an arrest warrant.

Al-Bashir said he will resist pressure to hand over any Sudanese suspects to the court. He said, We are ready to go through war with the great power to protect the Sudanese citizen.

Al-Bashir said his government would ask international peacekeepers to leave if a warrant is issued. -AP