ICC prosecutor is a junior employee doing cheap work: Sudan
By Wasil Ali
June 11, 2007 (Khartoum) — The Sudanese interior minister lashed out the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) Luis Moreno-Ocampo, vowing not hand over any Sudanese citizen.
Interior Minister Zubair Bashir Taha said that Ocampo is nothing but a “junior employee doing cheap work”.
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.
Taha said that Ocampo should request the arrest of US president George Bush for “torturing prisoners in Guantanamo and for using cluster bombs in Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon and Iraq”. He added that if Ocampo doesn’t do that “then he is forever doomed”.
Last week ICC has formally requested the extradition of Harun and Kushayb. The International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) published a notice for the arrest of Haroun.
Sudan’s Justice Minister Ali Al Mardi said that any attempts to arrest Harun and Kushayb through the Interpol amounts to “kidnapping and international piracy”.
The Sudanese presidential adviser Nafi Ali Nafi reiterated his government’s position of refusing to hand over Haroun and Kushayb. He said that Khartoum’s position on this issue is “not negotiable”.
However Ocampo expressed confidence that the arrest warrants against the two Darfur war crime suspects will be executed after meeting with the Secretary-General of the Arab league Amr Moussa in Cairo earlier this month.
Sudan has not ratified the Rome Statue, but the UN Security Council triggered the provisions under the Statue that enables it to refer situations in non-State parties to the world court if it deems that it is a threat to international peace and security.
(ST)