Sudan rejects ICC ruling on Darfur

Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the ICC chief prosecutor, had said that Ahmed Haroun and Ali Muhammad Ali Abd al-Rahman were suspected of 51 counts of war crimes in Darfur.

But Mohammed Ali al-Mardi, Sudan's justice minister, told The Associated Press on Tuesday: "We are not concerned with, nor do we accept, what the ICC prosecutor has opted for.

"Our position [on handing over any indictees] remains the same."

Haroun, an ex-state interior minister, and Abd al-Rahman, a militia commander also known as Ali Kushayb, are the first two suspects to be sought by the ICC.

Al-Mardi confirmed that Abd al-Rahman has been in detention in Khartoum since November on suspicion of violating Sudanese laws and was under investigation for actions in Darfur.

Sudan has repeatedly said it will not respect any indictments handed down by the ICC, and it is not a signatory to the convention that created the international court.

The court said the two were suspected of war crimes and crimes against humanity including rape and murder.

Haroun and Abd al-Rahman were part of a conspiracy to "persecute civilians they associated with rebels," Moreno-Ocampo said.

The UN Security Council in March 2005 had asked the ICC to launch an investigation into the violence in Darfur, which the US has called genocide, a charge Khartoum denies.

More
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/F39DCD36-2480-4D3A-BC15-C59AA7400785.htm