Geneva - Defiant Sudanese officials confirmed Thursday that the government had kicked several charities out of the country for "violating the law" and "passing information" onto the International Criminal Court, which they accused of being a colonialist body.

The ICC on Wednesday issued an arrest warrant for Omar al-Bashir, the president of Sudan.

Among the 10 non-governmental organizations expelled from Sudan were Medecins Sans Frontiers (Doctors without Borders), the Norwegian Refugee Council and the British Oxfam, the officials confirmed.

"They were in fact inciting hatred among tribes, disseminating lies," Sudanese Deputy Minister of Justice Abd el-Daim Zomrawi said.

The Sudanese ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, John Uceck, said that the court had lost its credibility.

"The court has become a means of recolonizing independent countries, including my country," he said, adding that the government of Sudan "condemns the ICC decision."

"The president was elected," the ambassador said. "Only the people of Sudan will relieve him of his duties."

The Sudanese officials said they would not seek a deferral of the warrant from the UN Security Council, but would leave that to regional groups like the Arab League and the African Union.

The officials said al-Bashir would continue to travel to countries that were not signed onto the Rome Convention which established the ICC.

"He will continue to travel abroad taking into consideration the new developments," said the deputy minister. (dpa)