Hundreds of Sudanese students gathered on Saturday to denounce a UN decision to refer those accused of war crimes in Darfur region to the International Criminal Court. Sudan's government on Friday dismissed the UN Security Council resolution, originally a French draft, which will refer to the ICC a sealed list of 51 people suspected of crimes against humanity during more than two years of rebellion in Darfur. The government-dominated student union organised the march, which began with speeches in Martyrs Square outside the Republican Palace denouncing the United States and France, and was to follow on to the French and British embassies and finally to the UN building in central Khartoum. A few dozen students were wearing red scarves around their heads signalling jihad, or holy war. The at most 200 students chanted "down, down USA", and called for the cutting of diplomatic relations with France. There were almost as many security and police as students. Organisers said the poor turnout was due to the holidays as most students had gone home to their villages outside Khartoum.