Darfur war crimes suspect says travel possible despite ICC arrest warrant
September 15, 2007 (KHARTOUM) — A Sudanese minister accused by the International Criminal Court (ICC) said he is not afraid of traveling abroad despite a pending arrest warrant against him.
The judges of the ICC issued their first arrest warrants for suspects accused of war crimes in Sudan’s Darfur region in early May. The warrants were issued for Ahmed Haroun, state minister for humanitarian affairs, and militia commander Ali Mohamed Ali Abdelrahman, also know as Ali Kushayb. Sudan has so far rejected handing over the two suspects.
The International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) circulated a notice for the arrest of Haroun last June. The ICC has an agreement with the INTERPOL enabling it to use its telecommunications network and databases.
However Haroun acknowledged that he has not traveled since the arrest warrants saying that as a government official “traveling is governed by the benefits sought from such a trip”.
Haroun was in Jordan, the only Arab country who is party to the ICC, for medical treatment when the ICC Chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo announced charges against him late February. The Sudanese minister returned immediately to Khartoum that day.
The war crimes suspect said the involvement of the ICC in Darfur is a political one and not judicial. He also said that Ocampo can do nothing “but talk to the press”.
Analysts say that it is unlikely that the Sudanese government will allow Haroun to travel abroad given the pending arrest warrants against him.
No extra security measures have been placed on Haroun since the ICC arrest warrants. Last June Haroun’s cell phone was stolen during a wedding he was attending in Khartoum.
At least 200,000 people have died in the western region and more than two million more fled their homes since ethnic minority rebels rose up three years ago drawing a scorched earth response from the military and allied militias.
(ST)