afrol News, 18 July - International Criminal Court is adamant that Sudanese president Omar Hassan al-Bashir should be prosecuted for genocide, in spite of United Nation's warning to the court, to consider possible impact of its investigations.

ICC chief prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, has accused Mr al-Bashir of campaign of genocide that killed 35,000 people outright, at least another 100,000 through a "slow death" and forced 2.5 million to flee their homes in Sudan's western Darfur region.

Mr Moreno-Ocampo asked ICC on Monday to issue an arrest warrant for Mr Bashir on suspicion of genocide and other crimes against humanity.

Sudan has dismissed accusations as politically motivated and said it will ignore any warrant.

China, South Africa and others have expressed concern that an indictment of the president could damage stalled peace process aimed at ending 5-year-old conflict in Darfur.

In his first public comments since asking for Mr Bashir's arrest, Mr Moreno-Ocampo said this was not a factor for him.

"I am the prosecutor and I have to do my judicial part of work for court. I kept my independence and I cannot be a political factor," he said, when asked whether arresting Mr Bashir would harm peace negotiations.

ICC judges are expected to make a decision on whether to issue a warrant for Mr Bashir's arrest in October or November.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon offered a different view, saying ICC also must consider ramifications of its work without sacrificing its independence.

"We must seek to strike correct balance between duty of justice and pursuit of peace," he said.

Mr Moreno-Ocampo, who was visiting UN to celebrate 10th anniversary of signing of Rome Treaty that created ICC, also denied there was any link of timing of his high-profile call to anniversary.

Diplomats have said that Khartoum might retaliate against an ICC arrest warrant for Mr Bashir by withdrawing its consent for UN-African Union peacekeeping force in Darfur, if Security Council does not intervene.

Sudan's UN ambassador, Abdalmahmoud Abdalhaleem, has said he is working with Russia, China and members of AU and Arab League to persuade them to ask UN Security Council to freeze any ICC indictment against Mr Bashir.

Diplomats in New York say Arab League and AU's Peace and Security Council are expected to call on UN Security Council soon to block any ICC moves in interest of bringing peace to Darfur.

Several Western diplomats on council have said Mr Bashir could escape indictment if he ended what they see as impunity for two men ICC charged last year over Darfur.

Khartoum has not handed them to court or started legal proceedings in Sudan to investigate allegations.

Mr Abdalhaleem has given no details about how Khartoum might react if ICC issued an arrest warrant for Mr Bashir, but hinted that something big could happen.

"It's a recipe for disaster," he said. "It is a collective responsibility of council to move together to halt it. Otherwise it is an invitation for a gate of fire on country."

By staff writer

© afrol News

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