Bashir could escape war crimes indictment

UNITED NATIONS – Sudan’s president, accused of masterminding genocide in Darfur, might escape war crimes charges if he brings to justice two men suspected of mass killings, Western envoys said on Wednesday.

The International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, asked the ICC on Monday to issue an arrest warrant for President Omar Hassan al-Bashir on suspicion of crimes against humanity. Moreno-Ocampo accused Bashir of a campaign of genocide that killed 35 000 people outright, at least another 100 000 through a “slow death” and forced 2,5 million to flee their homes in Sudan’s western Darfur region.Sudan, China and South Africa have expressed concern that a formal indictment of Bashir could damage the stalled peace process aimed at ending the five-year-old conflict in Darfur.”The search for justice should not jeopardise the other priorities in Sudan,” South Africa’s UN Ambassador Dumisani Kumalo told reporters ahead of a Security Council meeting.United Nations peacekeeping officials and national diplomats say privately they fear an arrest warrant against Bashir could provoke a wave of violence against the joint UN-African Union peacekeeping force (Unamid) or even prompt Khartoum to order all international peacekeepers in Sudan out of the country.There are around 9 500 Unamid troops and police in Darfur and another 10 000 UN peacekeepers in other parts of Sudan.Nampa-ReutersMoreno-Ocampo accused Bashir of a campaign of genocide that killed 35 000 people outright, at least another 100 000 through a “slow death” and forced 2,5 million to flee their homes in Sudan’s western Darfur region.Sudan, China and South Africa have expressed concern that a formal indictment of Bashir could damage the stalled peace process aimed at ending the five-year-old conflict in Darfur.”The search for justice should not jeopardise the other priorities in Sudan,” South Africa’s UN Ambassador Dumisani Kumalo told reporters ahead of a Security Council meeting.United Nations peacekeeping officials and national diplomats say privately they fear an arrest warrant against Bashir could provoke a wave of violence against the joint UN-African Union peacekeeping force (Unamid) or even prompt Khartoum to order all international peacekeepers in Sudan out of the country.There are around 9 500 Unamid troops and police in Darfur and another 10 000 UN peacekeepers in other parts of Sudan.Nampa-Reuters