Darfur war-crime suspects won’t go to ICC, government says

Sudan’s government has firmly rejected a UN Security Council resolution calling for those accused of war crimes in the western Sudanese region of Darfur to be tried in the International Criminal Court, officials said on Sunday.

According to the Sudanese news agency Suna, the country’s Council of Ministers declared its "total rejection" of UN resolution 1593 - issued on Thursday 31 March – and said it lacked "justice and objectivity".

Morever, the resolution violated the principle of national sovereignty, and neglected the vision of the government and its efforts for realising peace and stability, the Council was quoted as saying.

Sudanese President Umar al-Bashir announced in a statement also on Sunday that his government would not hand over any Sudanese citizens to be tried outside the country.

Sudan’s own judiciary was qualified and ready to try those accused of any violations in Darfur, al-Bashir added.

Muhammad Uthman al-Mirghani, leader of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) - a coalition of opposition parties - also made a statement on Sunday, saying he did not agree with the prosecution of Sudanese nationals outside of Sudan.

He called for the formation of a special court, made up of Sudanese judges agreed upon by the government and the opposition, to prosecute suspects involved in Darfur.

Al-Mirghani also called for national reconciliation and the broadening of political participation in order to resolve outstanding political issues.

Elsewhere on Sunday, a delegation of over 100 members of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) arrived in Khartoum, the Sudanese capital, to start the official implementation of a comprehensive peace agreement.

Signed by both the SPLM/A and the Sudanese government on 9 January, the agreement was intended to end the 21-year civil war in the south.

The delegation was expected to participate in deliberations to come up with a new constitution, which would provide the basis for a power-sharing arrangement between the former rebels and the current government. The NDA was also expected to take part in the talks.

In January’s peace agreement, the SPLM/A and the government agreed to form a coalition, decentralise power, share oil revenues and form joint military units.

Secretary-General James Wani, who headed the SPLM/A delegation, was the most senior member of the former rebel movement to visit Khartoum since war began in 1983.

In a press statement, Wani said his delegation had come to Khartoum "in order to establish a partnership between the SPLM/A and [the ruling] National Congress party," to help realise peace in all parts of the country.

Once a new constitution was established, SPLM/A leader John Garang would come to Khartoum to become the first vice-president, Wani added.

The war in Darfur pits Sudanese government troops and militias - allegedly allied to the government - against rebels fighting to end what they have called marginalisation and discrimination of the region's inhabitants by the state. Over 2.4 million people continue to be affected by the conflict, 1.85 million of which are internally displaced or have been forced to flee to neighbouring Chad.