ICC push for Sudan leader arrest warrant

October 01, 2008 – Prosecutors at the International Criminal Court sought to persuade a panel of judges Wednesday to grant their request for a genocide arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir.

A closed hearing was held at the court's seat in The Hague in the morning for the prosecution to present evidence to back up the request for a warrant.

In a public document, the court said it had convened the hearing because "it (is) necessary to receive additional information from the prosecution in relation to the prosecution's application."

In July, chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo asked the court for an arrest warrant for Beshir on ten counts of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

He claimed the president had "personally instructed" his forces to wipe out three ethnic groups in the western Sudanese region of Darfur.

If charges are brought, it would be the first time the ICC has indicted a sitting head of state since it started operating in 2002.

Beshir has shrugged off the threat of prosecution, while Arab and African leaders have warned of the dangers to regional stability of arresting the Sudanese leader.

France has raised the possibility of suspending international court proceedings against Beshir in exchange for a "gesture" of goodwill towards the ICC.

The UN Security Council can defer the prosecution for one year, renewable, if backed by nine of its 15 members and all five permanent members, which include France.

The Sudanese government has already refused to surrender two suspects named by the ICC last year for war crimes in Darfur.

The conflict began in 2003 when ethnic minority rebels took up arms against the Arab-dominated regime for a greater share of resources and power.

The United Nations says up to 300,000 people have died from the combined effects of war, famine and disease and more than 2.2 million fled their homes. Sudan puts the death toll at 10,000.

The ICC is the world's first independent, permanent war crimes court.

(AFP)