Arab ministers to meet over Sudan’s Bashir indictment by ICC
July 12, 2008 (CAIRO) — Sudan has called for an emergency meeting of the Arab League foreign ministers after publication of reports saying prosecutor of the International Criminal Court may act against President Omar al-Beshir and seek his arrest on Monday.
Ambassador Hisham Yousef, head of the office of Arab League chief confirmed today the holding of the extraordinary meeting and explained that Syria supported the Sudanese demand for the meeting.
Yousef said that Amro Musa is conducting contacts from Paris, where he attend a meeting on the Union of the Mediterranean, with Arab foreign ministers.
The Secretary General — in light of these contacts and what will appear from the forthcoming report of the prosecutor Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo on Monday 14 July – will determine steps to be taken and the date of the emergency meeting.
Arab League official said the meeting will ask not to politicize the work of the International Criminal Court, the necessity of non-interference in the internal affairs of Sudan and respect for its sovereignty and independence.
The Sudanese Ambassador at the Arab League said the move of Prosecutor Moreno-Ocampo proves the double standard of the ICC, especially as they turn a blind eye to some major countries. He added that the indictment of Sudanese president will lead to damage security and stability in the region.
Monday case is the second in the prosecution of Darfur crimes by the ICC. The judges of the international criminal tribunal issued their first arrest warrants for suspects accused of war crimes in Sudan’s Darfur region in May 2007.
The warrants were issued for Ahmed Haroun, state minister for humanitarian affairs, and militia commander Ali Mohamed Ali Abdel-Rahman, also known as Ali Kushayb. But Khartoum has refused to hand the two men over.
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)
D'kuol
Arab ministers to meet over Sudan’s Bashir indictment by ICC
Dear arab ministers,
If you were in kenya you shouldn’t be sruggling now with the holding of your so called emergency meeting because you would be familiar with the common saying that”siku ya mwizi ni harobaini”translated as”the days of a thief are numbered”.You knew very well that Beshir’s government activites in Durfur could possibly attract the ICC n did nothing to influence him to stop what the world has described as genocide.Now I wan to believe it is going to be too late to stop the ICC.
More importantly,I want to bring to your attention that the life of the citizens in given country is more than the mere symbol of sovereignity and indefendent,so do the people of Darfur.Your argument that people shouldn’t interfer with sudan’s internal problem is unjustified this can spill over and affect the country as a whole,when an individual fall to keep his/her house clean in a cosmopolitant city,the city council shouldn’t look at it as that individual’s problem because the disease cac be spread to the neighbourhood.This is how should see the Darfur’s case.