July 20, 2008 (KHARTOUM) — The Arab League chief Amr Moussa met with Sudan president Omar Hassan Al-Bashir and offered a plan aimed at stalling the work of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in Darfur.
- Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir (R) meets with Arab League General Secretary Amr Mussa in the capital Khartoum on July 20, 2008 (AFP)
The plan, which was not disclosed, is believed to include holding national proceedings for Darfur war crimes. According to the Rome Statue the ICC will not look in a case that has been prosecuted in local courts.
The Arab League said in the resolution last Saturday that Sudanese judiciary is capable of prosecuting Darfur war crime suspect and described the ICC’s prosecutor position as “unbalanced”.
Sudan official news agency (SUNA) quoted Moussa as saying that there is an acceptance from Khartoum to the plan.
However Sudan presidential adviser Mustafa Ismail told reporters that no decision has been made yet on Moussa’s plan.
The Arab League chief said he will meet with Sudan Vice President and other officials tomorrow to continue discussions on the plan.
The ICC’s prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo asked pre-trial judges last Monday to issue arrest warrants for Sudanese president Omar Hassan Al-Bashir.
Ocampo filed 10 charges: three counts of genocide, five of crimes against humanity and two of murder. Judges are expected to take months to study the evidence before deciding whether to order Al-Bashir’s arrest.
Sudan dispatched a number of its envoys to Libya, Iran and Qatar seeking support against the ICC. Despite the Arab League resolution, most Arab governments maintained silence after the ICC announcement.
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