The International Criminal Court (ICC) Vs Sudan

ICC opened its eyes on Darfur to investigate the war erupted in the area between the government and rebels on 26 February, 2003.

It began to talk about crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in Darfur. It started looking for suspects accused of committing war crimes in the region, warning that they would be arrested.

It urged the UN to put pressure on Khartoum to arrest war crime suspects. Accordingly, it requested the Interpol to get Sudanese suspects accused of committing war crimes in Darfur.

The ICC issued an arrest warrant last year (2007) for the ex-State Minister in the Ministry of Interior Ahmed Haroun and a leading figure in the Popular Defense Forces, Ali Kusheib, who were accused of committing war crimes in Darfur.

President Al-Bashir insisted that government would not hand over any Sudanese to ICC. Moreover, he appointed Ahmed Haroun in the capacity of State Minister in the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs.

The Security Council called on Khartoum to cooperate with ICC on the subject, but the government refused to hand over any individual to ICC.

ICC started to talk about issuing an arrest warrant for senior Sudanese figures. The Council of Ministers of Sudan declared that it does not recognize the ICC, as Sudan is not among the signatories of ICC membership.

The United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed concern about the ICC's probable accusations against senior government officials in Sudan. He affirmed the United Nations keenness to cooperate with Sudan to implement all agreements between both sides of CPA.

On Monday, 14 July 2008, the Prosecutor General of the International Criminal Court, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, reported to the court that president Al Bashir is responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity and genocide in Darfur over the last five years. Ocampo called on the judges of the ICC to issue an arrest warrant for President Omer Al-Bashir as well as freezing his assets.

On August 4, 2008 Members of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) joined their efforts with the African Union and the Arab League and urged the U.N. Security Council to defer any move by the International Criminal Court to issue an arrest warrant for Sudanese president Omer al-Bashir.

The OIC ministers, who met on Sudan's request as part of international campaign, described the ICC prosecutor demand for an arrest warrant as "unwarranted and unacceptable," and expressed "deep concern" that it could undermine efforts to resolve the Darfur conflict and promote peace in Sudan.

On Thursday, 21 August 2008 in an interview with Al-Arabia news television Al-Bashir threatened to expel the UNAMID peacekeeping troops in Darfur from the country should the ICC issue an arrest warrant against him.