Sudan to try suspect wanted by ICC
March 6, 2007 (KHARTOUM) — Sudan’s state news agency said Khartoum would try Ali Kushayb, summoned by the International Criminal Court as a suspect for war crimes in the western Darfur region.
Khartoum says the ICC in The Hague has no jurisdiction over its nationals.
Last week, ICC chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo asked pre-trial judges to issue summonses for Ahmed Haroun, state interior minister during the height of the Darfur conflict, and Kushayb, also known as Ali Mohamed Ali Abdelrahman.
“SUNA has learned that three accused will stand trial before the Darfur special criminal court,” the news agency said in a report late on Monday.
It said the court would begin its sitting on Wednesday and that one of the accused was Kushayb.
Few other details were immediately available.
The ICC has described Kushayb as a militia leader but Khartoum says he is a member of the Popular Defence Forces, a section within the Sudanese army.
Experts estimate 200,000 people have been killed and 2.5 million others driven from their homes in Darfur since rebels took up arms against the government in 2003. Khartoum says about 9,000 have been killed.
U.N. and African Union observers blame pro-government militias for the worst atrocities. The government denies arming the Janjaweed militiamen and describes them as outlaws.
(Reuters)