Omar al-Bashir, the Sudanese president, retains power in Sudan after the country's first multi-party polls in 24 years.

About 16 million Sudanese were registered to vote in the presidential elections that began on April 11.
 
Sudan's elections commission announced the result on Monday.

And many predicted the result right from the start, saying al-Bashir was virtually unchallenged and unmonitored.

Some of Sudan's main opposition parties withdrew from the elections and boycotted the vote, alleging fraud - a concern expressed by both local and international observers.

Now an elected president, al-Bashir is also is a man wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) over alleged war crimes in Darfur.
 
So, how should the international community deal with him now? And how important is he in an upcoming referendum that will potentially divide Sudan?
 
Inside Story, with presenter Sohail Rahman, discusses with guests Hafiz Mohammed, the director of Justice Africa, an NGO promoting social justice across Africa, Ghazi Suleiman, a lawyer at the Sudanese High Court, and Douglas Johnson, the author of Root Causes of Sudan's civil wars.

This episode of Inside Story aired from Monday, April 26, 2010.