Sudanese president Al Bashir accused of genocide

Dubai: In a move that stunned the Arab world, the prosecutor general for the International Criminal Court (ICC) accused Sudanese President Omar Al Bashir of committing genocide and war crimes in Darfur.

The prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, sought the arrest of the Sudanese leader, marking the first time the arrest of a sitting head of a state had been requested at the ICC.

The Sudanese government rejected the charges as unfair and politically motivated, while Arab and African leaders warned of the consequences.

The Arab League said it would hold crisis talks on Saturday to discuss the unprecedented move.

Moreno-Ocampo said Al Bashir had "masterminded and implemented" a plan to destroy a large portion of three ethnic groups in Sudan.

He has "presented evidence showing that the Sudanese President committed the crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in Darfur ... and concluded there are reasonable grounds to believe that [Al Bashir] bears criminal responsibility in relation to 10 counts of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes," Moreno-Ocampo's office said in a statement.

Judges will now examine the application to ascertain whether reasonable grounds exist to believe that a crime within the court's jurisdiction had been committed.

In his first comments, Al Bashir said the court had no jurisdiction in Sudan and added its charges were lies.

"From the beginning we said we are not a member of the court ... the court has no jurisdiction over Sudan," Al Bashir said on state television.

"Whoever has visited Darfur, met officials and discovered their ethnicities and tribes ... will know that all of these things (including ethnic cleansing) are lies."

Khartoum, which rejects the ICC's jurisdiction, warned the move could threaten peace efforts.

"We totally reject this decision," said Minister of State for Information Kamal Obaid. "We were expecting that the general prosecutor will rely on legal evidence on his argument, but instead, he has turned the whole case to a political issue."

The United Nations says up to 300,000 people have died since the Darfur conflict broke out in February 2003. The Sudanese government puts the death toll at 10,000. Peace initiatives have so far failed to hold.

The head of Sudan's Bar Association Fadi Khalil said Sudan was not a member of the ICC and was not bound by the decision of its prosecutor.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said he was "very worried" by the possibility of Al Bashir indictment. "It would have very serious consequences for peacekeeping operations including the political process," he told Le Figaro newspaper.

The Sudanese Liberation Movement-Unity, which has been fighting the government in Darfur, welcomed the move and even offered "to help arrest" Al Bashir.

The United States called for calm and said it was reviewing the ICC's arrest warrant. Britain urged Sudan to cooperate with the court decision. Western embassies advised their nationals to limit unnecessary travel amid fears that the move could spark violent retaliation.

With inputs from agencies

It is evident that Sudan is under attack by the US and its allies. They are after oil, uranium, and all natural resources available in Sudan as well as US corporate presence in Sudan which is opposed by this government. The day we have a "friendly" government in Sudan will mark another type of US occupation in the region.
Fifi
Abu Dhabi,UAE
Posted: July 15, 2008, 08:56

How can anyone, who has watched the atrocities in horror, say that this man is not guilty of genocide? Are these people more interested in riling against the International community than protecting innocent lives.
Kitty
Muscat,Oman
Posted: July 15, 2008, 08:56

Yes, it is clear cut plan by West to undermine Arab leaders. One way or the other the Arab leaders who speak against vested interests of the West are shown the way. Saddam gone, Iran is on the verge, Attempted with Syria and Libya and now Sudan. Why ICC has blind eye on who are responsible for the current situations in Iraq and Palestine?
Abdul
Dubai,UAE
Posted: July 15, 2008, 08:19

Sudan is being persecuted by the USA, just like the persecution of Mugabe by the UK. The indictment and the arrest warrant against the elected president are nothing but a demonstration of power by the USA, on a small and unarmed country compared to USA, who are being increasingly pushed into isolation, if it does not grant independence to one of its province called Darfur. The hedgemonic attitude of the USA in gangster style threat by making a nation and an elected president hostage to its will, is increasingly become the style of the entire western culture. Almost all the countries in the west are using the ICC or the UN for their personal and vested interest, disregarding the sovereignty of other nations which are either small or have unarmed and beggar quality, take the example of Iraq, Afghanistan, Sudan, Lebanon, Libya, Zimbabwe, etc. etc. Like every step that results in the isolation of the western countries in the eastern block, specifically the Muslim bloc the present action against the Sudanese government will only increase resentment against the west in the eastern bloc countries. We can only wish for sanity to prevail in the first world, other wise the polarization may cause a catastrophe that would be very difficult to contain.
Dawoodi
Karachi,Pakistan
Posted: July 15, 2008, 08:00

The charges brought by the ICC against Al Bashir do not discriminate him as the facts of the charges stand on their own merit. He has allowed innocent people to be anihilated in Darfur by sanctioning the Janjaweed rebels and their marauding reign of terror on civilians.
David
Dubai,UAE
Posted: July 15, 2008, 07:19

What distubs me is that who is to decide what is an internal affair of a country and what is not? If a country does suppress or commit genocide against its own population, of course that is wrong but in some cases it is considered an internal affair of a country. China suppressing its Muslim or Tibetan population - yet the Chinese leader(s) are not indicted by UN security council. In a similar case, Sudan is allegedly (could be true or false) suppressing or committing genocide against it own citizens. Can sudan claim that regardless if that is true or not, its Sudan's internal problem and no outside country, body, or organisation can interfere in its internal affairs? It just seems that the UN picks and chooses issues when it wants to when Russia invaded Chechnya, killing Chechen civilians (technically Russian citizens) no such action was taken. While it was frowned upon, but it was considered internal Russian affairs. its just the double standards that worries me. If Omar al bashir is guilty, he should be punished but the process must be imposed fairly on ALL member states.
Sameer
Toronto,Canada
Posted: July 15, 2008, 00:37