July 17, 2008 (UNITED NATIONS) – The already branded as public enemy in Khartoum, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court said his third case will be against Darfur rebels who commit war crimes.

The International Criminal Court’s prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo reacts during a press conference in The Hague, Netherlands, Tuesday Feb. 27, 2007 (AP)

Speaking from New York where he attended the ceremonies marking the court’s 10-year anniversary, Ocampo said Thursday he is investigating on violence against peacekeepers in Sudan’s troubled Darfur region, including a Sept. 29 attack on the Haskanita military base that left 10 African Union soldiers dead and 1 missing.

"I am focusing my efforts in the third case with the rebels attacking Haskanita," he said. "We have information about the names of two commanders who were allegedly responsible for this."

The prosecutor cautioned Sudanese rebels against carrying out attacks like the one he suspects them of orchestrating on the strategically important AU base, which is about 12 miles (19 kilometers) from the boundary between Darfur and the neighboring region of Kordofan.

"We have to prove the case," he added. "I like to use this meeting to call on the rebels to provide evidence and ...stop any crime."

The Darfur rebels have been trying to link up with new rebel groups in Kordofan, where there are large fields of Sudan’s proven oil reserves.

"The rebels cannot commit crimes. They have to control their people," Moreno-Ocampo said. "And they have to help the court ... to provide evidence against those who commit the attacks in Haskanita, and even arrest them. So I think it’s the time now for the case of the rebels."

Vehicles marked with the initials of the rebel Justice and Equality Movement took part in the attack in which 12 peacekeepers were killed.

ICC chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo has accused Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir of a campaign of genocide that killed 35,000 people outright, at least another 100,000 through a "slow death" and forced 2.5 million to flee their homes in Sudan’s western Darfur region.

He asked the ICC on Monday to issue an arrest warrant for Bashir on suspicion of genocide and crimes against humanity. Sudan has dismissed Moreno-Ocampo’s accusations as politically motivated.

ICC judges are expected to make a decision on whether to issue a warrant for Bashir’s arrest in October or November.

NO POLITICAL MOTIVATIONS

Moreno-Ocampo denied Khartoum’s allegations that his request for the arrest of Sudan’s president for genocide and crimes against humanity was politically motivated.

"My responsibility is to investigate cases, to present evidence to the judges," Moreno-Ocampo told reporters. "I have no political responsibility."

Several Western diplomats on the council have said Bashir could escape indictment if he ended what they see as impunity for two men the ICC charged last year over Darfur. Khartoum has not handed them to the court or started legal proceedings in Sudan to investigate the allegations.

Asked if this was the case, Moreno-Ocampo responded that would be up to the court’s judges.

The prosecutor gave few clues about his evidence but said Bashir made what amounts to "a public confession" of orchestrating genocide last year when the Sudanese president said that "he would never hand over Harun, because Harun was following his instructions."

Speaking to reporters after Moreno-Ocampo’s news conference, Abdalhaleem gave no details about how Khartoum might react if the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Bashir but hinted that something big could happen.

"It’s a recipe for disaster," he said. "It is a collective responsibility of the council to move together to halt it. Otherwise it is an invitation for a gate of fire on the country."

(ST)

(Material for this news paper are provided b the AP, AFP and Reuters)