Cairo - The Arab League warned Saturday against the
'politicizing' of the International Criminal Court (ICC) after
Khartoum called for an emergency meeting of Arab foreign ministers to
discuss reports that the court prosecutor may seek a warrant for the
arrest of the Sudanese president.
The Arab League's spokesman, Hesham Yussif, told reporters that
that the league's Secretary-General Amr Mussa was in consultation
with Arab foreign ministers and their African counterparts over the
issue.
The Cairo-based body will decide the date of the meeting and
action to be taken based on the consultations and the outcome of the
ICC meeting on Monday, Yussif said.
The ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo is expected to open a new
war crimes case on Darfur on Monday.
An ICC prosecution statement said Thursday that Ocampo was due to
put forward to judges evidence on crimes committed in Darfur in the
past five years and would seek to make charges against individuals.
No further details were revealed but United Nations officials were
quoted by The Washington Post as saying Sudanese President Omar
Bashir would be charged with genocide and crimes against humanity.
Arab countries are against the politicizing of the ICC and
interference in Sudan's affairs, Yussif said.
Sudan has formally asked the Arab League to hold an emergency
meeting to discuss the crisis. Khartoum's request was seconded by
Syria, according to the league spokesman.
Last year, ICC judges issued arrest warrants for two Sudanese, the
minister Ahmed Harun and militia commander Ali Kushayb, but the
Sudanese government said it would not hand them over.
The crisis in Sudan's western Darfur province erupted when non-
Arab rebels staged an uprising in 2003 against the predominantly Arab
central government and Khartoum-backed nomadic militias.
Some 200,000 people have died, according to international
estimates, and about 2.5 million have been displaced since 2003.
USA
Your Talkback on this Story