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Sudan rules out deal with ICC over Bashir warrant
Sudan on Thursday rejected a deal with the International Criminal Court to hand over two indicted officials in exchange for dropping the court's arrest warrant for President Omar Hassan al-Bashir. ICC Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo sought an arrest warrant for Bashir on Monday on suspicion of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur, a move that some powers fear could derail the fragile Darfur peace process. "There will be no direct cooperation with the International Criminal Court and no sending any Sudanese citizens to The Hague," presidential adviser Mustafa Osman Ismail told a forum on Thursday. The decision to refer Darfur to the ICC came from the U.N. Security Council so any proposal to resolve the crisis should also come from there, he said. ICC judges are expected to decided in October or November whether to issue a warrant for Bashir's arrest. Ocampo asked the ICC for the warrant, accusing Bashir of a campaign of genocide in which 35,000 people were killed outright, at least 100,000 more died a "slow death" and 2.5 million were forced to flee their homes in Sudan's western Darfur region. Sudan has asked Russia, China and members of the Arab League and the African Union to help it pursue a Security Council resolution suspending a warrant for Bashir for 12 months. Posted by: Fred 2008-07-18 |
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