News Article by KUNA posted on July 13, 2008 at 14:07:04: EST (-5 GMT)
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Sudan will deal firmly with any ICC actions -- president KHARTOUM, July 13 (KUNA) -- Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir has notified US Secretary General Ban Ki-moon that he would be dealing "firmly" with any actions taken by the International Criminal Court (ICC), which will be announcing tomorrow its list of criminals of war in Darfur, reported to include the Sudanese president's name. Sudanese News Agency (SUNA) said that in a phone call, Ban expressed his discontent with the court's intent to name top officials, saying that the UN was ready to cooperate with Sudan on implementation of resolutions and other agreements. Al-Bashir said his country had the right to respond, through diplomatic channels, to any actions taken by the court, and called on the international community to honor its commitments in order for peace to prevail in Darfur. On Friday, US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack had confirmed newspaper reports that ICC prosecutors would seek an arrest warrant for President Al-Bashir. This would mark the first-ever bid by the Hague-based ICC to charge a sitting head of state. The Sudanese government reacted angrily to the news, saying that any decision against the president could "destroy the peace process." Sudan rejects the court's jurisdiction and refuses to surrender two war crimes suspects already named, amid fears of a military response by Sudanese forces or their proxies against UN and African Union peacekeepers. Last Tuesday, seven UN peacekeepers were killed and 22 were wounded in an ambush of a UN convoy in Darfur. |