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UN chief: Sudan leader should cooperate with court

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-02-11 11:02

UNITED NATIONS – UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged Sudan's president on Tuesday to fully cooperate with the International Criminal Court if it decides to issue an arrest warrant over for his alleged role in atrocities in Darfur.

Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) leader Tahar Adam al Fiki attends the Darfur peace talks between representatives of the Sudanese government and the rebel JEM in Doha February 10, 2009. [Agencies]

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The world's first permanent war crimes tribunal is expected to announce its decision soon on last year's request by the court's chief prosecutor for an arrest warrant against President Omar al-Bashir.

The decision will likely coincide with the first peace talks between al-Bashir's government and one of the two main rebel groups in Darfur that got under way Tuesday in Doha, Qatar, seeking an end to a six-year rebellion in the vast region of western Sudan.

"Whatever the circumstances or decisions of the ICC may be, it will be very important for President Bashir and the Sudanese government to react very responsibly," Ban said. "... And he should fully cooperate with whatever decisions that the ICC makes."

Ban said he discussed the "safety and security" of the UN-African Union peacekeeping mission in Darfur and the "implications of ICC issues" with al-Bashir at the recent AU summit in Ethiopia, but he refused to disclose any details.

Ban said he understands the African Union and the Arab League will try to get U.N. Security Council support for a resolution that would delay action on any arrest warrant for a year. The statute that set up the tribunal allows the council to defer prosecution of a case.

Al-Bashir's government has been accused of encouraging Muslim militias to commit atrocities against ethnic Africans in Darfur since a rebellion broke out there early in 2003. UN officials say up to 300,000 people have died in the conflict and 2.7 million have fled their homes.