From: Henok Tesfay (henok.tesfay@gmail.com)
Date: Fri Jul 18 2008 - 16:40:12 EDT
Sudan asks Russia to defend its president from ICC: report
MOSCOW (AFP) — Sudan has asked Russia to defend its president Omar al-Beshir
from possible prosecution by the International Criminal Court (ICC), Sudan's
ambassador to Russia told Russian media on Friday.
"We asked Russia as a permanent member of the UN Security Council to use its
influence, ties and contacts to dispel this spectre threatening Sudan," the
Interfax news agency quoted ambassador Chol Deng Alak as saying at a news
conference in Moscow.
On Monday, ICC chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo accused Beshir of
masterminding a genocidal campaign in Darfur and asked judges to issue a
warrant for his arrest. If granted, the warrant would be the first ever
issued by The Hague-based court against a sitting head of state.
Alak described the prosecutor's request as "very dangerous, since it
involves arresting the president of a sovereign state which did not sign the
Rome Statute" establishing the ICC.
"Such a request breaks confidence in international justice and violates
international law," Alak said.
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