"The International Court of Justice (ICC) has done me a favor which I would never have dreamt of. My popularity in my home country has unexpectedly multiplied through this arrest warrant," Al-Bashir told Spiegel news magazine.

The Hague-based ICC issued an arrest warrant last year on charges that Bashir presided over crimes against humanity committed in the government's campaign against the rebels.

The president dismissed the allegations, and denied that his government had unleashed Janjaweed militia to slaughter civilians and burn villages.

"From the start, it was a conspiracy orchestrated from abroad that politically, militarily and financially supported the rebellion in Darfur," Bashir said.

He also said US "inconsistencies" with regard to Sudan could only be explained because "powerful interest groups influence the US government."

"The actual decision makers in the US, as well as the FBI and CIA, know very well that what is being disseminated about Sudan is not true," Bashir said in the interview to appear in Monday's edition of Spiegel magazine.

The president said that, despite the international arrest warrant, he had several African and international allies. "We enjoy best relations with South Africa," Bashir said, adding that President Jacob Zuma was due to visit after Sudanese elections in April.