Moammar Gadhafi, recently-elected chairman of the African Union, attends the African Union Summit (Simon Maina/AFP/Getty Images)

AU Commission chief Jean Ping said he was "deeply concerned at the far-reaching consequences of this decision, which comes at a critical juncture in the process to promote lasting peace in the Sudan."

Following the ICC decision, a defiant Bashir addressed thousands of supporters Thursday in Khartoum, lashing at the West.

"The true criminals are the leaders of the United States and Europe," he told the mass protest, according to BBC.

"One day we will take them to justice."

The Union leadership said the ICC was biased against Africa citing the court's four active investigations are all in Africa.

African nations had hoped to convince the ICC not to issue the warrant, said Burkina Faso's Ambassador Bruno Nongoma Zidouemba to VOA.

"We did not foresee failing," he said. "We will be heard. We think until now there is a kind of misunderstanding. The ICC will not be here without the African countries. If you take the number, two-thirds are from Africa. Africa is not against the ICC to punish international crimes, but we have a special case in Darfur and the sudan, which is that we have to take into account the necessity for peace to prevail in sudan."

The ICC's chief prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, filed genocide charges against al-Bashir in July last year, accusing him of attempts to wipe out African tribes in Darfur with a campaign of murder, rape and deportation. However, yesterday's charges did not include genocide, as the prosecutor had hoped. The judges voted 2-1 against holding al-Bashir entirely responsible for genocide, citing there was not enough evidence, although officials believe it could still happen at a later date.

The conflict in Darfur started in 2003 when rebels began an uprising against the Bashir government to protest what they considered the government's neglect and marginalization of the area. In response, the government unleased Arab militias known as Janjaweed, accused of killing civilians and burning down their villages.

The UN estimates about 300, 000 have died in Darfur and 2.5 million have been made refugees.

The court found al-Bashir guilty on three counts of crimes against humanity: murder, extermination, forcible transfer, torture, and rape. In addition, two counts for war crimes: intentionally directing attacks against civilians and for pillaging, were held against him.

Meanwhile, the African Union is meeting to find a way out of the impasse. In a speech to a closed session of the AU Peace and Security Council Thursday, Sudanese Ambassador Mohieldin Salim Ahmed told reporters afterwards Africa would stand in defence of al-Bashir.

"We are confident that our continent is not going to fail us," he said. "The case is not now the case of Sudan, it is the case of Africa, and that has been reflected clearly in all the interventions of the African leaders in the last summit."

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