Arab League to discuss legal way out of Sudan-ICC crisis

Jul 19, 2008, 11:42 GMT

Cairo - In an effort to avert possible prosecution of the Sudanese president on genocide charges, Arab foreign ministers are expected to examine in an emergency meeting in Cairo on Saturday a proposal that would call for the trial of two other indicted Sudanese officials, according to Arab diplomatic sources.

The emergency meeting in the Cairo headquarters of the Arab League will look into finding some legal leeway out of the crisis between Sudan and the International Criminal Court (ICC).

The ICC Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo asked the court on Monday to issue an arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar al- Bashir on suspicion of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Al-Bashir is accused of waging against three Darfur tribes a campaign of genocide that claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands and displaced about 2.5 million people from their homes in the western Sudanese province.

The ICC is expected to rule in October or November whether to issue the arrest warrant.

The Arab ministers will ask al-Bashir to bring to justice two Sudanese officials who were indicted by the ICC last year, Arab diplomats told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

The two officials are Ahmed Harun, Sudan's Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, and Ali Kushayb, a militia leader.

The proposed trial would take place in Sudan under international and African supervision, the diplomats said.

Under another proposal, which has been mooted in Arab diplomatic circles, a trial of the two officials would take place in an African country and would be attended by ICC representatives.

It would be difficult for the Arab League meeting to come out with a statement condemning the indictment of the Sudanese leader by an international body, the diplomats maintained.

But the Arab body, however, will try to bloc the ICC move to issue an arrest warrant, with the view that any such moves will derail efforts to bring peace to Darfur and other parts of Sudan.

The Arab League argues that Sudan does not recognize the authority of the ICC, hence its president should not be tried by the court.

Some Arab countries have already warned al-Bashir that he should pursue serious efforts to resolve the Darfur conflict but have been dismayed by al-Bashir's failure to do so, according to Arab diplomats.

It is not clear what Sudan's response will be to the proposed trial as the country rejected Thursday any deal with the ICC to hand over officials in return for a dropping of the charges against al- Bashir.