China expressed its concern on Tuesday regarding the accusations made by the  International Criminal Court related to Sudan’s President Omar Hassan al-Bashir over state-backed acts of genocide in the country’s beleaguered region of Darfur. However, there was no clue that it would take measures in order to postpone the progression of the Beijing Olympic Games opening on August 8.

According to the Reuters news service, Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao reported in a regularly programmed news conference in Beijing that China was seriously concerned about the ICC prosecutor’s denunciation of the Sudanese leader. Furthermore, Liu Jianchao said that the court’s procedures should encourage firmness and an appropriate agreement in Darfur, not the contrary.

China is a major financier in Sudan’s oil industry and is the country’s biggest provider of arms. Moreover, it has received disparagement from the West in relation to its links to Khartoum.

Nevertheless, German Chancellor  Angela Merkel said at a news conference with U.N. Secretary General  Ban Ki-moon that the ICC should be supported and not condemned.

In Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, the United Nations recommended staff to stay indoors as pro-government public meetings’ attendants marched on the streets around its offices and close to the French and British embassies.

In the meantime, Egypt and Yemen declared their support for Omar Hassan al-Bashir, and Iran said it considered the ICC prosecutor’s actions as objectionable. Iran’s foreign minister Manouchehr Mottaki said the Sudanese government could cope with the calamity with the help of lectures held to local groups.