Arab League warns against interference in Sudan's affairs (Roundup)

Jul 12, 2008, 13:07 GMT

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.