ICC's Ocampo says Bashir has been committing genocide for the last five years- The militias were integrated -- they were not acting alone

From Foreign Policy published on 12 or 13 February 2009
Seven Questions: Luis Moreno-Ocampo

The international prosecutor who's coming after Sudan's Omar al-Bashir says that peace talks in Darfur might have to take a back seat -- justice must be served.

Just hours before FP's Elizabeth Allen spoke with International Criminal Court prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the New York Times reported that the court's judges had decided to issue an arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir -- the first even indictment of a sitting head of state. Bashir would be implicated for his role in the ongoing conflict in Darfur, which many call the first genocide of the 21st century.

While the court denies having made its decision, the suggestion alone has provoked controversy. Advocacy groups worry that indicting the Sudanese president could jeopardize ongoing peace negotiations to end the crisis, or worse: inspire Bashir to tighten his grip and resort to further violence. But in his discussion with Foreign Policy, Moreno-Ocampo argues that the indictment is crucial to ending impunity in Darfur. He told FP, "I'm sorry if I disturb those who are in negotiations, but these are the facts."

Foreign Policy: Was an arrest warrant issued by the court yesterday for the arrest of Bashir?

Luis Moreno-Ocampo: No. The report says the judges decided. I don't know what they know. But it's not official. The judges said today they have not decided.

FP: Tell us about the ICC's involvement in Darfur, and specifically, the case against Bashir. For example, what evidence do you have to implicate him on the intent to commit genocide?

LMO: In February 2007, we presented the first case on Darfur [consisting of] the attacks against the villages mainly inhabited by the Fur, the Masalit and the Zaghawa ethnic groups. The modus operandi was, [government organized militias] would surround villages that had no [Darfuri] rebel presence, helicopters or planes would drop bombs, and the government forces attacked the village.

Since June 2007, and particularly in December, I [was told] to focus my investigation on the crimes committed in the camps. In the camps, the attacks are more subtle. There are two weapons: rape and hunger. It's normal for women [who are] going to look for firewood to be raped, the same way that for you it's normal on Sunday afternoon for you to get a parking place at the supermarket.

You have to understand that Bashir and his government are a very smart people. They're not a failed state. When they saw the reaction [to village attacks,] the method [became] more silent: raping and hunger. They don't need gas chambers; they don't need machetes, because they have the desert to kill them. They are hindering humanitarian assistance. That's a subtle way to commit a genocide today.

FP: Sudan has national elections scheduled for this year, and a referendum in 2011 to allow Southern Sudan to formally secede. How might these events be affected by an ICC arrest warrant?

LMO: My mandate was to end the impunity, in order to prevent future crimes. If the judges issue a warrant against Bashir, it will be the beginning of ending impunity. I'm concerned about the second part: prevent[ing] future crimes. The international community has a three-pronged [approach]: humanitarian assistance, security, and political agreement, ignoring justice. What I saw when we issued a warrant for [Sudan's Minister of State for Humanitarian Affairs] Ahmed Harun was a tendency to ignore reality. This is affecting humanitarian assistance and also security. Mr. Harun is on the committee to deploy UNAMID, and he is of course affecting the deployment. Mr. Haroon was appointed head of a committee to investigate human rights abuses. This is not a joke; this is a way for Mr. Bashir to confirm to other members of his group that if they follow his orders, legal orders, nothing will happen to them.

FP: Could the pursuit of justice result in the exacerbation of atrocities or hardships in Darfur? Could it impede the recently begun peace negotiations between the government and the Darfur rebel group, the Justice and Equality Movement, in Doha?

LMO: No. For people in Darfur, nothing could be worse. We need negotiations, but if Bashir is indicted, he is not the person to negotiate with. Mr. Bashir could not be an option for [negotiations on] Darfur, or, in fact, for the South. I believe negotiators have to learn how to adjust to the reality. The court is a reality.

I think for [the negotiators] it is de facto, it's a reality. They assume that Mr. Bashir is indicted. Maybe [that makes] the negotiation is more difficult, but it's more promising. Bashir has been committing genocide for the last five years, so why do you believe he will change? And the idea that [the same thing] will not happen again in the South? Be careful.

FP: Referring to the specifics of the Bashir case, is a specific genocidal intent on the part of President Bashir necessary to prove a claim of genocide? What qualities of genocidal intent has Bashir shown?

LMO: Even Hitler did not have a document saying "go and destroy the Jews, or the gypsies." You have to prove the intention through facts. Mr. Bashir, in March 2003, ordered publically to attack his people saying, ‘I don't like prisoners or wounded. I just want to see scorched earth.' A few weeks later, his commanders say, ‘We're ready,' and they start a campaign to systematically target the villages inhabited by the Fur and Zaghawa.

He used the state apparatus. It's not just [an] army operation. It's not just the removal of those who refused to commit these crimes and the inclusion of other people -- including militias -- to commit the crimes. It's not just that he created these courts to investigate the crimes, and they investigated nothing. It's also about how he used the diplomatic apparatus and the media to deny the crimes

The militias were integrated -- they were not acting alone. This autonomy of the janjaweed [militia] is an alibi. It's incredible that people can still think of that

FP: There were a number of measures introduced in the 2005 with the Interim National Constitution and the Comprehensive Peace Agreement that constrained the authority and power that President Bashir might need to organize the state to perpetrate crimes in Darfur. What effect did this have

LMO: He never fulfilled [these conditions]. The Security Council passed different resolutions prohibiting the use of military airplanes; he continued bombing, no problem. They forced Mr. Bashir to dismantle the janjaweed militias -- he completely ignored [them].

We're not talking about political responsibility here; we're talking about individual criminal responsibility. Bashir was on top of this operation. He is the president of the country; he is the commander in chief; he's the president of the Congress Party; he has de jure and de facto control of these people. So what we allege is that he has control and he ordered these activities.

[The ongoing] hindering of humanitarian assistance is part of the genocide, because the consequence is that people are dying. Five thousand are dying each month, and we are presenting that as a humanitarian crisis. It's not; it's a crime. I'm sorry if I disturb those who are in negotiations, but these are the facts.

FP: How do you view the role of the United States in securing an ICC arrest warrant for Bashir, given that the country is not a signatory to the Rome Treaty that gives the ICC its mandate?

LMO: The Darfur case was referred to the court by the Security Council. In this case, there's no disagreement between U.S. policy and the Rome Treaty. All countries have to work to stop this crime. It's a challenge for the world. We are witnessing the first massive crime of genocide in the 21st century and for the last five years we did nothing efficient to stop to the crimes. We are providing material assistance, yes. That is great; it's saving the life of 2 million people. But it's not enough. The United States, as a member, has a responsibility also.

Luis Moreno-Ocampo is prosecutor for the International Criminal Court.

- - -

Note from Sudan Watch
If the ICC takes seriously its mandate to end impunity in order to prevent future crimes in Sudan, why, I wonder, are civilians allowed to run amok attacking, murdering and maiming aid worker and peacekeepers whilst being pandered to by the international community?

Where are the charges and arrest warrants for the leaders of all the organised gangs of criminals in Sudan? Why stop at Bashir, why not start on Kiir and charge that genocide, not civil war, went on for over 20 years in Southern Sudan. Why stop at Kiir, one could slap a posthumous charge on the late John Garang and his gang of ex rebels.

My point is, what is justice in the eyes of whom? Where is the justice for the aid workers and 70-80 peacekeepers murdered in Darfur and for the famililies of those slain at Haskanita? And why does France permit Al-Nur to direct the Darfur war from Paris, France? Mr Prosectuor, we've heard enough about Mr Bashir, what about the murderous insurgents and their attempted coup d'etat? When will you end their impunity? And what about the two million victims who perished in South Sudan...

US, France, UK oppose suspending ICC case against President al-Bashir of Sudan

Friday, Feb. 13, 2009 12:45am GMT Reuters report by Louis Charbonneau

U.S., France, UK oppose suspending Bashir Darfur case

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.S., British and French diplomats told African Union and Arab League delegates on Thursday that they oppose suspending a war crimes indictment of Sudan's president over atrocities in Darfur, diplomats said.

U.N. diplomats and officials said on Wednesday the International Criminal Court had decided to issue an arrest warrant for President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, who is accused by the court's chief prosecutor of overseeing genocide in Darfur.

The court, based in The Hague, said on Thursday it had not reached a final decision but U.N. officials said the Sudanese government was already aware that Bashir would be formally indicted later this month.

"At this moment we're not ready to support an initiative that would implement Article 16," French Deputy Ambassador Jean-Pierre Lacroix said, referring to an ICC statute that allows the Security Council to suspend the court's proceedings for up to a year at a time.

Lacroix spoke after a closed-door meeting between U.N. Security Council members and African and Arab delegations.

Council diplomats said the U.S., British, Austrian and Croatian envoys also told the meeting that they opposed deferral of an ICC indictment of Bashir. Russia and China joined the Africans and Arabs in voicing support for a deferral, saying it was in the interests of peace.

Lacroix said the supporters of a suspension appeared to lack a majority in the council. Since Britain, France and the United States are permanent council members with veto powers, they could block any moves to invoke Article 16.

As expected the informal council meeting took no action but diplomats said they would be returning to the issue.

Britain's Africa minister Mark Malloch Brown said earlier this week that it was "completely unlikely that anything is going to happen which could lead to an Article 16 deferral."

'NO ONE GIVES A DAMN'

Bashir is the most senior figure pursued by the court since it was set up in 2002. If the warrant is issued as expected, he will be the first acting head of state indicted.

Sudan rejects the accusations made by chief prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo last July and says it will never hand over Bashir or two other Sudanese men already indicted by the court.

"For us this so-called indictment doesn't exist," said Sudan's U.N.

Ambassador Abdalmahmoud Abdalhaleem. "No one will give it a damn in the country. If it has any merit, it has united the whole Sudanese people around our president."

China, the African Union and Arab League have all suggested that an indictment of Bashir could destabilize the region, worsen the Darfur conflict and threaten a troubled peace deal between north Sudan and the semi-autonomous south.

Ocampo accuses Bashir of orchestrating a campaign of genocide in Sudan's western Darfur region, starting in 2003. Ocampo has said this killed 35,000 people outright and at least 100,000 more through starvation and disease.

Khartoum rejects the term genocide and says 10,000 people died in the conflict.

(Additional reporting by Aaron Robert Gray-Block and Catherine Hornby in Amsterdam, Andrew Heavens in Khartoum, Skye Wheeler in Juba, South Sudan)

New York Times was just desperate for a scoop? Gun-jumping by Ocampo alleged, Arab League and African Union meeting with UN Security Council

From Inner City Press at the UN by Matthew Russell Lee February 12, 2009:

Sudan Pre-Indictment Frenzy at UN, Gun-Jumping by Ocampo Alleged, AU in Town

(UNITED NATIONS) - The pending indictment of Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir by the International Criminal Court was the talk of the UN on February 12. The New York Times reported that the decision to indict has been made. The ICC issued a denied. Ban Ki-moon's spokesperson was pelted with questions if the ICC President gave Ban a sealed envelope with the news -- denied -- and whether he last meeting with Bashir was as heated as portrayed in the Times. Inner City Press caught up with Sudan's Ambassador to the UN, walking the UN's second floor in his national dress and cobra shoes, and asked him what he made of the pending indictment.

"They are telling us our country is too big," he said, adding that news of the indictment made "some brothers in Doha say we will arrest the president." Inner City Press asked who had made this threat. "Khalil," he answered, naming the head of the Justice and Equality Movement, which Sudanese troops recently faced down in South Darfur.

The UK's draft presidential statement on that topic is now officially dead: it "did not have unanimity," Security Council president Yukio Takasu said at the stakeout, confirming what Inner City Press wrote two days earlier, quoting a Libyan diplomat that his country would not agree without a paragraph taking note of the African Union's recommendation that the ICC process be suspended for one year.

ICC's Ocampo and UN's Ban in July 2008, Bashir indictment not shown

Inner City Press asked Sudan's Ambassador if it had ideas on who was the New York Times' source?

"I think it was water-testing by the New York Times," he said.

So they are working together?

"They are all conspirators."

Others says the Times was just desperate for a scoop. One wag quipped this is the first instance of Carlos Slim journalism. Others cited Judy Miller and Jason Blair.

But even Sudan's Ambassador conceded the indictment would probably soon issue. He said that ICC Prosecutor Moreno-Ocampo spoke days ago at Yale and said that the pre-trial chamber's work was done, and the indictment would issue in days. Inner City Press asked if this was taped, and the Ambassador promised a transcript.

Ban Ki-moon at his press conference this week expressed satisfaction that Sudan had only bombed the outskirts of the town in South Sudan, and that JEM had left. Sudan's Ambassador opined that Ban "wanted to say, I was advised not to talk to the President but I did, and look at the results I got. He did it for his own sake." He said another phrase, but for diplomacy's sake we leave it out.

There is diplomacy at work. An Arab League (and African Union) diplomat told Inner City Press that despite the ICC denial, the decision has in fact been made, but some countries are pressuring the ICC to hold off on announcing. If the Doha talks between Khartoom and JEM are the reason, expect them to go on and on.

There will be a meeting between the Security Council and the African Union and Arab League at 4 p.m. in the UN's basement. Watch this space.

Update of 4:02 p.m. -- In front of Conference Room 8, Arab League's Samir Hosni says they have 7 votes and maybe Mexico and Turkey to stop the al-Bashir indictment. Meeting begins.

Update of 6:54 p.m. -- meeting breaks up, while Costa Rica's Urbana says they made a good presentation, France's LaCroix says, I don't think they have a majority. That is, for suspending the indictment, Russia and China, Libya, Uganda and Burkina Faso, Vietnam -- and who? Turkey? Mexico? Mexico, it's said, is under pressure in two ways from NAM and G-77. More on this to follow. 10-4.

Sudan blocks aid flights to Muhajiriya, Sheria and Labado in south Darfur

February 12, 2009 Reuters report by Andrew Heavens, Khartoum:

Sudan blocks aid flights to Darfur battle zones-UN

Sudanese authorities have prevented aid agencies from getting food and water to more than 100,000 people in three areas in Darfur, U.N. officials said on Thursday.

The U.N.'s humanitarian coordinator Ameerah Haq called for immediate access to Muhajiriya, Sheria and Labado in south Darfur, where civilians have been caught in the middle of recent clashes between rebels and Sudanese forces. [...]

"We are very concerned about the state and condition of civilians in these areas," said Haq in the statement.

"Unless access is immediately granted, the situation for ... civilians could deteriorate rapidly."

No one from the Sudanese authorities was immediately available for comment.

Aid agencies had tried to get into the areas four times since the weekend but had failed to get clearance for humanitarian flights, said the statement from the U.N.'s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

It did not say who had failed to clear the flights or what had caused the problem.

But a U.N. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the requests had been held up by Sudan's national security service and the government's Humanitarian Aid Commission despite repeated requests. The commission was not immediately available for comment.

TALKS WITH REBELS

Fighters from Darfur's rebel Justice and Equality Movement seized the key south Darfur town of Muhajiriya in mid January, sparking some of the worst violence Darfur has seen in a year, said analysts.

Fighting and government bombardments around the town forced thousands of civilians to flee, said the U.N.

Over the next three weeks fighting spread to Sheria, Labado and other surrounding areas, as JEM and government forces manoeuvred. Government forces now say they control the whole area after re-taking Muhajiriya.

U.N and other aid groups were waiting in the nearby capital of south Darfur Nyala, with food, water, shelter materials and medical care, said the statement.

Sudan's government has promised to cooperate with U.N. and other agencies who are running the world's largest humanitarian operation in Darfur. But some organisations have complained of harassment from government officials in south Darfur. [...] (Editing by Jon Boyle)

Ex-combatants from Sudan's north and south symbolically relinquish their weapons in return for a DDR I.D. card, cash, non-food items & food rations

From UN.org 12 Feb 2009
Woman fighter first in line in Sudan’s UN-backed demobilization programme

A woman was the first ex-combatant to be demobilized in this week’s historic launch of a United Nations-backed programme aimed at coaxing 180,000 ex-fighters from Sudan’s two-decades long north-south civil war back into civilian life.

Fatima, a former member of the People’s Defence Forces, was first in line when 15 ex-combatants, including four other women, stepped forward yesterday in Ed Damazin in Blue Nile State at the start of the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) programme, a significant stage in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) of 2005 that ended a war, in which at least 2 million people died and 4.5 million others were forced from their homes.

Up to 25 per cent of all DDR candidates in Blue Nile State are women and the Joint Commission and integrated UN DDR unit expects to receive about 900 women from the Damazine area in the coming three months.

“The inclusion of women in the 10 February launch reflects the commitment of both Commissions (north and south) and the UN family to ensure that women, as well as men, equally benefit from the DDR process,” the UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) said in a news release.

“Women played key roles in armed groups throughout Sudan during the conflict, both as active combatants and in roles providing essential support to soldiers from all parties,” it added.

During the ceremony, ex-combatants from the north and south symbolically relinquished their weapons and in return received a DDR identification card, cash, non-food items and a coupon for food rations provided by the UN World Food Programme (WFP).

Congratulating the Government of National Unity and the Government of South Sudan on the occasion, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s Deputy Special Representative Ameerah Haq voiced confidence that the north and south DDR commissions were determined to make the programme succeed despite problems in securing funding and meeting the needs of ex-combatants in the South.

Rob Crilly twitters he's all set for Khartoum

robcrilly: Need to change my shillings into dollars, buy cat food and toothpaste, then I'm all set for Khartoum
Twitter / robcrilly 12/2/09 06:05

AndrewHeavens: @robcrilly "Akhir Lahzah's field team has observed the appearance of an unknown substance along the riverbed of the Blue Nile River"
Twitter / AndrewHeavens 11/2/09 05:28

AndrewHeavens: @robcrilly "citizens added that substance's colour was changing between green and white and sometimes it would appear like soap bubbles"
Twitter / AndrewHeavens 11/2/09 05:29

AndrewHeavens: @robcrilly "the Ministry of Irrigation and Water has ruled out that the substance was some sort of seaweed or of fungal nature"
Twitter / AndrewHeavens 11/2/09 05:31

AndrewHeavens: @robcrilly "For their part, citizens expressed concern that the substance might be contaminative or chemical wastes"
Twitter / AndrewHeavens 11/2/09 05:32

Why the ICC Leak?

From UN Dispatch: Notes on UN
By Mark Leon Goldberg, February 12, 2009
Why the ICC Leak?

I woke this morning to find an email from the International Criminal Court's press shop vigorously denying that ICC judges had made a decision to issue the arrest warrant for Sudanese president Omar al Bashir. If the ICC is not ready to make the announcement regarding Bashir, why would officials at the United Nations -- who were the sources for the New York Times scoop--reveal this info?

The UN is pretty leaky place in general. Hundreds of member states have hundreds of different agendas, which sometimes differ from the UN secretariat. There is a very real chance that a diplomat in the know couldn't hold his or her tongue. But, it's also no secret that a number of UN officials are frustrated with the ICC's pursuit of Bashir--not on principal, but because UN officials worry that the arrest warrant could disrupt peace efforts and result in attacks on UN personnel in Sudan.

Don't get me wrong, as a blogger and journalist I'm very pro-leak. I'm just curious as to why "officials at the UN" (which could mean secretariat staff or member state diplomats) would want to jump the gun on this?

UPDATE: On further reading, it seems that the NYT item that broke this story was datelined The Hague, not United Nations. This would suggest that the leak came from ICC, not UN sources, which adds another layer of intrigue.

From what I have gathered here at Sudan Watch, Sudan Tribune appears to be the first to get a leak. To keep an eye on dissemination of misinformation, I've documented several reports on it here at Sudan Watch over past few days. Scroll through past week of posts and see.

ICC says no decision concerning possible arrest warrant against Sudan President Bashir has yet been taken by the judges

ICC Press Release: 12.02.2009
No decision concerning possible arrest warrant against President Al Bashir of Sudan
ICC-CPI-20090212-PR389
Situation: Sudan

Following press articles published today, the International Criminal Court (ICC) wishes to inform the media that no arrest warrant has been issued by the ICC against President Omar Al Bashir of Sudan. No decision has yet been taken by the judges of Pre-Trial Chamber I concerning the Prosecutor’s application of 14 July 2008 for the issuance of such a warrant.

The Pre-Trial Chamber’s decision will be made public by the normal way of a press release and publication on the Court’s website.

For further information please contact Ms Laurence Blairon, Spokesperson, Head of the Public Affairs Unit, Public Information and Documentation Section at +31 (0)70 515 87 14 or +31 (0) 6 46 44 88 89 or at laurence.blairon@icc-cpi.int.

- - -

From the UN News Centre 12 Feb 2009:
International Criminal Court: no decision yet on arrest warrant for Sudan’s President

Contrary to media reports published today, the International Criminal Court (ICC) says that no decision has been made yet on the application for an arrest warrant against Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir on charges of war crimes in Darfur.

In a news release issued in The Hague, where the ICC is based, the Court stated that “no decision has yet been taken by the judges” concerning Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo’s application for such a warrant.

Last July Mr. Moreno-Ocampo presented evidence to the Court against Sudan’s President for alleged war crimes in Darfur, including genocide, some three years after the UN Security Council requested him to investigate atrocities committed in the strife-torn region.

An estimated 300,000 people have died in Darfur, either through direct combat or because of disease, malnutrition or reduced life expectancy, over the past five years in Darfur, where rebels have been fighting Government forces and allied Arab militiamen, known as the Janjaweed, since 2003.

The Prosecutor had stated that he believes Mr. Al-Bashir “bears criminal responsibility in relation to 10 counts of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes,” and said the evidence presented shows that the President masterminded and implemented a plan to destroy in substantial part the Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa groups, on account of their ethnicity.

Prendergast's Enough Project recommends Obama administration to work "publicly for a peace deal for Darfur and privately for Bashir's resignation"

In an email that I received today from enoughproject.org, Enough Project's Co-chair John Prendergast is quoted as saying,

"The arrest warrant for President Bashir is the potential game-changer that the Sudanese people have been waiting for, in order to shake up the deadly status quo that has led to millions of deaths in Darfur and Southern Sudan.

The warrant offers the Obama administration a chance to lead multilateral efforts to bring about a solution to Sudan’s decades-long cycle of warfare.

Working publicly for a peace deal for Darfur and privately for Bashir's resignation will provide the necessary international leadership that has been lacking for some time".

Working publicly for a peace deal for Darfur and privately for Bashir's resignation, eh what? Recommending the overthrow of Sudan's head of state? This goes to show how peace loving Prendergast is acting over Sudan. His proposed peace surge does not seem peaceful at all. Here is a copy of the email, in full, for future reference.

For Immediate Release February 12, 2009

Contact Eileen White Read, 202.741.6376 eread@enoughproject.org

REPORT: What the Warrant Means: Justice, Peace and the Key Actors in Sudan

WASHINGTON, DC, February 12, 2009 – A new report by the Enough Project at the Center for American Progress explores the impact of an arrest warrant for Sudan’s President on the ruling party, Darfuri rebel groups, the existing north-south peace agreement, and the international community. The decision by the Pre-Trial Chamber of the International Criminal Court, or ICC, to issue an arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir is both welcome and unsurprising given the long pattern of profound abuses in Sudan directed from the highest echelons of government.

The response of key actors in Sudan to the ICC’s move against Bashir is still obviously a work in progress, but the choices made in the coming weeks by Bashir’s National Congress, or NCP, the main rebel groups in Darfur, and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement, will have profound impact on the country’s future. Understanding the calculations of these actors is fundamental to leveraging the arrest warrant into progress toward peace.

Enough Project Executive Director John Norris commented, “As we have learned from earlier indictments of Liberian President Charles Taylor and Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic, these charges can be a catalyst for peace — if the international community stands resolutely behind efforts to promote accountability while simultaneously pursuing a strategic approach to a peace process. The situation in Sudan is no different.” Senior officials within Bashir’s NCP are deeply concerned about the possibility of further charges by the ICC, and a growing fissure between Bashir’s loyalists and potentially more pragmatic elements of the NCP could lead to the president’s removal.

The international community must now fashion a firm and coordinated peace strategy conditioned on actions rather than words and policies rather than personalities. What should be clear to the international community, including the United States, is that President Bashir should be delivered to the court to face a fair trial on the charges against him. Furthermore, the international community needs to use multilateral diplomacy, well targeted pressures, and judicious incentives to bring both the NCP and Darfur’s rebel groups to the negotiating table, while making a major effort to revitalize the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement, or CPA, as part of a broader and more strategic peace effort for all of Sudan.

Enough Project Co-chair John Prendergast observed, "The arrest warrant for President Bashir is the potential game-changer that the Sudanese people have been waiting for, in order to shake up the deadly status quo that has led to millions of deaths in Darfur and Southern Sudan. The warrant offers the Obama administration a chance to lead multilateral efforts to bring about a solution to Sudan’s decades-long cycle of warfare. Working publicly for a peace deal for Darfur and privately for Bashir's resignation will provide the necessary international leadership that has been lacking for some time."

For the latest news and reactions to the ICC’s actions, see Enough Said, the new blog from the Enough Project policy team, at www.enoughproject.org/blog.

Read the report (pdf)

###

Enough is a project of the Center for American Progress to end genocide and crimes against humanity. Founded in 2007, Enough focuses on crises in Sudan, Chad, eastern Congo, northern Uganda, Somalia, and Zimbabwe. Enough’s strategy papers and briefings provide sharp field analysis and targeted policy recommendations based on a “3P” crisis response strategy: promoting durable peace, providing civilian protection, and punishing perpetrators of atrocities. Enough works with concerned citizens, advocates, and policy makers to prevent, mitigate, and resolve these crises. To learn more about Enough and what you can do to help, go to www.enoughproject.org.

The Center for American Progress is a nonpartisan research and educational institute dedicated to promoting a strong, just and free America that ensures opportunity for all. We believe that Americans are bound together by a common commitment to these values and we aspire to ensure that our national policies reflect these values. We work to find progressive and pragmatic solutions to significant domestic and international problems and develop policy proposals that foster a government that is "of the people, by the people, and for the people."

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Sudan and Uganda agree to repatriate 50.000 Sudanese refugees

From Miraya FM via ReliefWeb 12 Feb 2009:

Sudan and Uganda tripartite commission meeting in Juba has agreed to repatriate (50.000) Sudanese refugees from Uganda in 2009 and 2010.

The Uganda Minister for Relief and Disaster Preparedness, Ecweru Musa Francis, said that the meeting has assigned new roles to both the Sudanese and Ugandan governments in supporting the repatriation process.

Mr. Ecweru urged the Government of South Sudan and the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) to visit the refugee camps in Uganda and assure them about their safety when they return home.

He said that the Ugandan government has supported the return of over (60.000) Sudanese refugees to Sudan adding that a good number are still in Uganda.

Meanwhile, the Sudanese State Minister of Interior, Abbas Jumaa, thanked Uganda for providing refuge to over (170.000) Sudanese for the last (19 years).

The Minister assured Sudan's commitment to speed up the return of the remaining refugees from Uganda.

Meanwhile, the representative of the UNHCR Office in Sudan, Chrisantos Achi, said that the recent statistics for the returnees to some southern states showed an increase in the number of infant deaths and malnutrition, worse than Darfur.

He added that only half the children whom returned to the south do find a chance in southern schools, affirming that the situation is worrisome.

Chrisantos Achi urged the Government of South Sudan and the Government of National Unity to help UNHCR with the repatriation processes by providing basic social welfare services in the repatriation areas.

28 killed and 25 wounded in clashes in Wadaa' area Northern Darfur

From Miraya FM 12 Feb 2009 via ReliefWeb:

28 killed and 25 wounded in clashes in Northern Darfur
28 killed and 25 others wounded in clashes between the civilians of Wadaa' area in Northern Darfur and the Sudan Liberation Movement's two factions of Minnawi and Unity led by Mahjoob Husain.

Al-Jazeera Arabic network reported according to the commissioner of Kalmandu area in Northern Darfur that half of the houses in the area have been destroyed; in addition to the main market which was completely burned.

African & Arab governments urge suspension of Bashir indictment - Washington Official says warrant for Sudan leader by month's end

February 12, 2009 report from Agencia Angola Press (ANCOP) Luanda, Thursday, February 23, 2009:
Africa Urges Suspension of Bashir Arrest Warrant

DARFUR, Sudan - African and Arab governments are expected to press the United Nations Security Council to defer the indictment of Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir on war crimes charges on the grounds that it could disrupt peace processes in the country.

The current president of the council, Japanese ambassador Yukio Takasu, confirmed to UN correspondents in New York on Wednesday that a meeting was being arranged between the council and a delegation from the African Union and the Arab League for Thursday.

He was commenting on reports that the International Criminal Court (ICC) at The Hague has decided to issue an arrest warrant for Bashir. The ICC prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, last July asked the court to order the arrest of Bashir on 10 counts of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes arising out of the conflict in Darfur.

The prosecutor alleged that Sudanese armed forces and Darfur's Janjaweed militia had been acting on Bashir's orders during a five-year-long campaign of attacking and destroying villages in the region.

Reuters news agency and the New York Times have reported from the UN that the ICC has decided to issue the warrant. However, the court has made no announcement and Takasu said the Security Council had heard "nothing official yet."

Takasu added: "We have been getting a lot of news and indications... The prevailing view in the council is let's wait until it happens and deal it with when it comes."Under the Rome Statute, which set up the court, the Security Council has the power to defer a prosecution for up to a year at a time.

Last month an Afro-Arab ministerial committee on Darfur, meeting in Doha to prepare for the Darfur peace talks currently being held in the city, called on the council to defer all the Darfur cases referred to the ICC with a view to creating conditions conducive to the talks.

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February 12, 2009 AP report by Mike Corder (THE HAGUE, Netherlands):
Officials: warrant for Sudan leader by month's end

The International Criminal Court is expected to issue an arrest warrant for Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir this month in connection with atrocities in his country's Darfur region, a U.S. official said. [...]

In Washington, a senior U.S. official said the Obama administration expected the arrest warrant "to come down before the end of the month." The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the diplomatic sensitivity of the situation.

The New York Times, citing unnamed lawyers and diplomats, reported late Wednesday that judges have decided to issue a warrant.

In response, the court issued a statement Thursday that "no decision has yet been taken by the judges." [...]

United Nations spokeswoman Marie Okabe said Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has not been told of any decision by the court.

The court is independent of the United Nations, but the Security Council called for an investigation into possible war crimes in Darfur. [...]

Sudanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Ali al-Sadiq underscored Wednesday that "Sudan will not hand over any of its citizens to the ICC and any indictment by the ICC is categorically rejected."

Speaking in Khartoum, al-Sadiq said that the court is "a mere tool for political conspiracy against the Sudan and that it has nothing to do with the international justice."

A leader of Darfur's strongest rebel group, the Justice and Equality Movement, said al-Bashir should turn himself in if there is an indictment and that would not affect peace talks with the Sudanese government in Doha, Qatar.

"A decision (by the ICC) won't affect the Doha negotiation track, instead it reinforces the need for negotiations ... this will help in reaching peace," Khalil Ibrahim said. "Peace is not a substitute for justice. We want peace and we want justice for all the people". [...]

Associated Press Writers Matthew Lee in Washington, Sarah El Deeb in Cairo, Egypt, and John Heilprin at the United Nations contributed to this report.

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From Sudan Radio Service (Nairobi) Thursday, 12 Feb. 2009:
ICC Denies Issuing Warrant for Al-Bashir

Speaking to Sudan Radio Service from The Hague, ICC spokeswoman Sonia Robla has described as untrue a Reuters report which claims that judges at the International Criminal Court have decided to issue an arrest warrant for President Omar Al-Bashir.

[Sonia Robla]: “No, what I can confirm is it is absolutely not true. It is not true. There is no warrant issued by the International Criminal Court judges at all. It’s a big mistake of the New York Times.”

According to Reuters, a diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity in New York on Wednesday night, said that the decision to indict al-Bashir on charges of war crimes in Darfur was made earlier this week. It would be the first time the court has requested the arrest of a sitting head of state.

The report indicates that the decision to issue a warrant against the Sudanese president, reached by a panel of judges in The Hague, has been sent to the United Nations secretary-general Ban Ki-moon and is expected to be formally announced at the ICC later today (Thursday).

Although the exact details of the charges against al- Bashir have yet to be revealed, the ICC chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo he said he had evidence to support accusations of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.

However, once an arrest warrant is issued by the court, the United Nations Security Council can request that it be postponed. There has been intense lobbying, notably among members of the African Union and the Arab League, to suspend the proceedings against al-Bashir for a year.

The African Union and the Arab League have argued that issuing an arrest warrant against al-Bashir could escalate the conflict in Darfur and threaten the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, a treaty signed in 2005 which brought an end to 21 years of civil war.

UN officials have warned of the danger of attacks against UN staff, western diplomats and relief agency workers in Khartoum if the ICC decided to issue the warrant.

Amnesty International and other human rights groups have insisted that the arrest warrant should be issued and that President al-Bashir should stand trial in The Hague, arguing that there can be no peace in Darfur without justice.

UN officials in New York indicated they had evidence that the International Criminal Court judges were determined to arrest al-Bashir. Although they declined to be named, the officials said that the decision was widely expected and was originally to be made public later this month.

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Voice of America report by Derek Kilner, Nairobi, Thursday, 12 February 2009:
ICC Says No Decision Reached on Bashir

The International Criminal Court has denied media reports the court's judges have agreed to issue an arrest warrant for Sudanese president Omar al Bashir.

According to The New York Times newspaper and the Reuters news agency, diplomats at the United Nations have said International Criminal Court judges have approved an arrest warrant for Sudan President Omar al-Bashir.

But the ICC has issued a statement saying that no warrant has been issued and the judges have not made a decision. An official announcement is expected sometime in February.

The ICC chief prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, is seeking to charge President al-Bashir with war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide for the Sudanese government's role in the conflict in the western region of Darfur. The reports did not say which charges the judges had agreed to.

Meanwhile, negotiations continue in Qatar between the Justice and Equality Movement and the government of Sudan. JEM-leader Khalil Ibrahim joined the negotiations for the first time Wednesday. JEM officials have said the talks are focusing on confidence-building measures.

Sudanese opposition welcomes arrest warrant

A representative of the Justice and Equality Movement, Abdullah El-Tom, says the group would welcome the announcement of an arrest warrant for President al-Bashir, but that it is waiting for an official announcement.

"JEM would certainly welcome that and celebrate that kind of decision if it comes out. But until now it is media reports," said El-Tom.

U.N. and humanitarian officials have expressed concern that a warrant for President al-Bashir's arrest could lead to retaliation against their representatives in Sudan. U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, told a news conference on Tuesday that he had brought up the concern in a meeting with President al-Bashir in Ethiopia during the weekend.

"Whatever the circumstances or decision of the ICC may be it will be very important for President Bashir and the Sudanese government to react very responsibly and ensure safety and security of United Nations peacekeepers and protect the human rights of all the populations. And he should fully cooperate with whatever decision the ICC makes," said Ban.

A spokesman for the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Darfur, Noureddine Mezni, told VOA that the force already has been operating at a heightened security level since last summer.

The African Union, the Arab League, and China have all called for the request for the arrest warrant to be delayed for a year. But it is not clear how far such countries would go to support Sudan's president were a warrant issued.[...]

New York Times & Reuters misinformed? ICC says no arrest warrant yet for Sudan's President Bashir (Update 3)

So it looks like Reuters and The New York Times are being fed misinformation.  They are not the only ones as other news agencies picked up on news from Reuters and The New York Times, spawning a mini avalanche of news reports claiming that the ICC judges have agreed to indict Bashir.

This afternoon's news report from AlArabiya.net & Agencies says no arrest warrant for Sudan's Bashir.

"At this moment, there is no arrest warrant," ICC spokeswoman Laurence Blairon told AFP after the New York Times reported that judges had decided to issue a warrant as requested last July by chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo.

"When we have something to announce, we will announce it. For now, there is nothing to announce," he said.

Feb. 12, 2009 report from The Hague/UN by AlArabiya.net, Agencies:
Reports say ICC judges agreed to indict Bashir
ICC says no arrest warrant for Sudan's Bashir

The International Criminal Court (ICC) said Thursday it has not issued an arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir for crimes in Darfur contrary to press reports that it had been issued.

"At this moment, there is no arrest warrant," spokeswoman Laurence Blairon told AFP after the New York Times reported that judges had decided to issue a warrant as requested last July by chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo.

"When we have something to announce, we will announce it. For now, there is nothing to announce," he said.

The newspaper reported Wednesday that ICC judges had decided to issue an arrest warrant for al-Bashir.

Quoting court lawyers and diplomats, the Times said precise charges cited by the judges against Bashir had not been disclosed, but a formal announcement was expected by the court in the coming days.

"I can confirm that no decision has been received by the Secretary General. We do not anticipate receiving such communication and we do not normally receive such communication "

U.N. deputy spokeswoman Marie Okabe

It quoted United Nations officials as saying the decision on the warrant was communicated to U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon, though this was denied by a U.N. spokeswoman.

"I can confirm that no decision has been received by the Secretary General. We do not anticipate receiving such communication and we do not normally receive such communication," U.N. deputy spokeswoman Marie Okabe said.

And Japan's U.N. Ambassador Yukio Takasu, the president of the Security Council this month, said the council had not yet been informed.

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This afternoon's news make more sense than earlier reports posted here today at Sudan Watch.  The latest news (copied here below) from Associated Press is that the ICC said Thursday no arrest warrant has been issued for Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir.  Court spokeswoman Sonia Robla said she did not know whether the judges have made their decision, but that no warrant has yet been issued publicly or under seal.  

Other court officials said they expected a decision this month. United Nations spokeswoman Marie Okabe said Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has not been told of any decision by the court, which is the world's first permanent war crimes tribunal.

Report from Associated Press by Mike Corder (The Hague, Netherlands) Thursday 12 February, 2009
Int'l Court: no arrest warrant yet for al-Bashir

A spokeswoman for the International Criminal Court said Thursday no arrest warrant has yet been issued for Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir for masterminding atrocities in his country's Darfur region.

The court's prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, asked a three-judge panel in July to order al-Bashir's arrest on charges of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

If judges agree, al-Bashir would be the first sitting head of state indicted by the court since it was established in 2002.
But the warrant may not cite all the charges sought by the prosecutor, omitting any charges the judges believe are not supported by submitted evidence.

The New York Times, citing unnamed lawyers and diplomats, reported late Wednesday that judges have decided to issue a warrant.

Court spokeswoman Sonia Robla said she did not know whether the judges have made their decision, but that no warrant has yet been issued publicly or under seal. Other court officials said they expected a decision this month.

United Nations spokeswoman Marie Okabe said Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has not been told of any decision by the court, which is the world's first permanent war crimes tribunal.

While the court is independent of the United Nations, it was the Security Council that called for an investigation into possible war crimes in Darfur.

In Washington, a senior U.S. official said the Obama administration expected the arrest warrant "to come down before the end of the month." The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the diplomatic sensitivity of the situation.

Even if the court issues an arrest warrant for al-Bashir, there is no guarantee he will be sent to the court's seat in The Hague any time soon. Sudan does not recognize the court's jurisdiction and refuses to turn over suspects.

However, an arrest warrant would put al-Bashir alongside the likes of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, his political ally Radovan Karadzic and Liberian ex-president Charles Taylor as national leaders indicted for atrocities committed while they were in office.

All three eventually ended up in The Hague; Milosevic's genocide trial was aborted when he died of a heart attack in 2006, Taylor is on trial at the Special Court for Sierra Leone, and Karadzic's genocide trial is expected to start this year at the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal.

Al-Bashir rose to power in a 1989 military coup and has ruled his east African nation with the support of the military, northern tribal leaders and a ruling party with an Islamic fundamentalist ideology.

U.N. officials are worried about reprisals if the arrest warrant is issued, including a possible attempt by Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir to order the U.N. out of Sudan.

Al-Bashir's government is currently in peace talks with Darfur's most powerful rebel group in the Qatar capital, Doha.

A cease-fire between the government and the rebels of the Justice and Equality Movement would be a significant step in easing fighting in Darfur, where rebel groups, complaining of discrimination and neglect, took up arms against the government in 2003. The six years of fighting has left 300,000 people dead and 2.7 million displaced, according to U.N. figures.

Sudanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Ali al-Sadiq underscored Wednesday that "Sudan will not hand over any of its citizens to the ICC and any indictment by the ICC is categorically rejected."

Speaking in Khartoum, al-Sadiq said that the court is "a mere tool for political conspiracy against the Sudan and that it has nothing to do with the international justice."

Associated Press Writers Matthew Lee in Washington and John Heilprin at the United Nations contributed to this report.

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RELATED REPORTS
See Sudan Watch Thursday, February 12, 2009:
Diplomats say Judges approve Bashir arrest warrant - UN chief knows of ICC decision to indict Sudan's president over Darfur?
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From Reuters Amsterdam February 12, 2009 - excerpt:
ICC says judges not yet decided on Sudan's Bashir

Judges at the International Criminal Court (ICC) have not yet decided whether to indict Sudan's president for war crimes in Darfur and issue an arrest warrant, the court said in a statement on Thursday.

U.N diplomats and officials told Reuters on Wednesday that the court's judges had already decided to indict Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir and issue the warrant.

"The judges are considering their decision and when we have something to announce we will announce it in the usual way," ICC spokeswoman Laurence Blairon said.

The decision of the judges at the court, based in The Hague, is expected to be made public this month. [...]

(Reporting by Catherine Hornby; Editing by Matthew Tostevin)

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From Sudan Tribune Thursday 12 February 2009 13:13.
BREAKING NEWS: ICC says no decision has yet been taken for Sudanese president:

February 12, 2009 (THE HAGUE) — The International Criminal Court (ICC) dismissed today the issuance of an arrest warrant for the Sudanese president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir.

"No decision has yet been taken by the judges of Pre-Trial Chamber I concerning the Prosecutor’s application of 14 July 2008 for the issuance of such a warrant," the ICC said in a press statement issued today.

The world court was reacting to press reports saying the judges of the pretrial court had decided to issue a warrant for the arrest of Sudanese President on charges of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in Darfur region, according to an official at the United Nations.

"The Pre-Trial Chamber’s decision will be made public by the normal way of a press release and publication on the Court’s website," said the statement. (ST)

Diplomats say Judges approve Bashir arrest warrant - UN chief knows of ICC decision to indict Sudan's president over Darfur?

According to several news reports copied here below, UN diplomats and officials say judges at the International Criminal Court (ICC) have decided to indict Sudan's president for war crimes in Darfur.

Officials say on the condition of anonymity that the court will issue an arrest warrant for Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir. They say the decision will be made public later this month.

It is not clear whether the Hague-based court will indict him on all 10 counts of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes brought by the court's chief prosecutor, Luis Moreno Ocampo.

A report (copied here below) in this morning's New York Times says the ICC decision to issue a warrant against Sudan's president has been conveyed to the United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, and is expected to be formally announced at the court, officials at the United Nations said.



Photo: Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, center, at the 12th African Union Summit in Ethiopia's capital, Addis Ababa, Feb. 4, 2009. (Antony Njuguna/Reuters/NYT)

From New York Times, United States
Judges Approve Warrant for Sudan’s President
By MARLISE SIMONS and NEIL MacFARQUHAR
Published: February 11, 2009

THE HAGUE — Judges at the International Criminal Court have decided to issue an arrest warrant for President Omar Hassan al-Bashir of Sudan, brushing aside diplomatic requests to allow more time for peace negotiations in the conflict-riddled Darfur region of his country, according to court lawyers and diplomats.

It is the first time the court has sought the detention of a sitting head of state, and it could further complicate the tense, international debate over how to solve the crisis in Darfur.

Ever since international prosecutors began seeking an arrest warrant last year, opponents have pressed the United Nations Security Council to use its power to suspend the proceedings. But a majority of Council members have argued that the case should go forward, saying Mr. Bashir has not done enough to stop the bloodshed to deserve a reprieve.

Many African and Arab nations counter that issuing a warrant for Mr. Bashir’s arrest could backfire, diminishing Sudan’s willingness to compromise for the sake of peace. Others, including some United Nations officials, worry that a warrant could inspire reprisal attacks against civilians, aid groups or the thousands of international peacekeepers deployed there.

The precise charges cited by the judges against Mr. Bashir have not been disclosed. But when the court’s chief prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, first requested an arrest warrant in July, he said he had evidence to support charges of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide related to a military campaign that “purposefully targeted civilians” and had been “masterminded” by Mr. Bashir.

Lawyers familiar with the case said the court had already sought to freeze the president’s assets but had found his possessions to be hidden behind other names.

The decision to issue a warrant against him, reached by a panel of judges in The Hague, has been conveyed to the United Nations secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, and is expected to be formally announced at the court, officials at the United Nations said.

The prosecutor became involved in the case after the Security Council asked him to investigate the conflict in Darfur, where massacres, disease and starvation have led to the deaths of up to 300,000 people and driven millions from their homes.

Although there has been sporadic fighting in Darfur for decades, the conflict significantly intensified in 2003, when rebel groups demanding greater autonomy for the region attacked Sudanese forces. The Arab-led government responded with a ferocious counterinsurgency campaign, which the court’s prosecutor called a genocidal strategy against Darfur’s black African ethnic groups.

Relations between Mr. Ban and Mr. Bashir continue to be strained by Sudanese government actions in Darfur and by Mr. Ban’s refusal to deal with Mr. Bashir directly.

But on Sunday the two men had an unscheduled encounter at a summit meeting in Ethiopia. Diplomats described it as “a stormy meeting” and “a shouting match” in which Mr. Bashir vented his anger at the court, though it is independent of the United Nations. Mr. Ban, in turn, insisted on the safety of United Nations staff members and peacekeepers, and demanded that Mr. Bashir stop the attacks on civilians.

The prospect of an arrest warrant for Mr. Bashir has already caused a diplomatic rift, with the African Union and members of the Arab League asking the Security Council to exercise its right to postpone any moves against the president for a year, arguing that he might still help bring a settlement in Darfur. Once an arrest warrant is issued, the Council can request that it be postponed.

There is broad concern that removing Mr. Bashir from power could threaten a landmark peace treaty between the Sudanese government and rebels in the southern part of the country. The treaty was signed in 2005 to end a civil war in which 2.2 million people died, far more than in Darfur.

Mr. Bashir fought members of his own party to approve that peace deal, and it is widely seen as critical to holding the country together.

On Wednesday, the Sudanese ambassador to the United Nations, Abdalmahmood Abdalhaleem, dismissed the court’s decision as “not deserving the ink used to print it.” The ambassador accused the court of being a political tool of mostly Western powers that want to fragment Sudan.

Mr. Abdalhaleem contended that in separate talks at the United Nations last fall with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and top European officials, Sudan was promised that Western powers would support a suspension of the prosecution if the country cooperated with United Nations peacekeeping efforts, pursued peace talks and more aggressively pursued war criminals.

“We are moving on all those tracks,” he said, though human rights groups and diplomats disagree.

A top United Nations official said Mr. Ban’s advisers were now struggling to forge a policy that supports the court’s pursuit of justice but avoids wrecking Sudanese cooperation with the complex missions there.

The court has issued two other arrest warrants in connection with the Darfur conflict, one for a former government minister, Ahmad Harun, and another for Ali Kushayb, a leader of a government-backed militia. Neither has been arrested.

The prosecutor has also accused three rebel leaders of the killing of 12 African Union peacekeepers. They have said publicly that they will surrender to the court.

Marlise Simons reported from The Hague, and Neil MacFarquhar from the United Nations.

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FURTHER REPORTS:

From Reuters Wed Feb 11, 2009 7:45pm EST by Louis Charbonneau - excerpt:
ICC to indict Sudan's Bashir over Darfur-diplomats

Judges at the International Criminal Court have decided to indict Sudan's president for war crimes in Darfur and issue a warrant for his arrest, U.N. diplomats and officials said on Wednesday.

"The ICC decided it wants him arrested," a diplomat at the United Nations told Reuters on condition of anonymity.

Some U.N. officials also said they understood that to be the decision by the ICC, based in The Hague. They said it had been widely expected and would be made public later this month. [...]

An ICC spokeswoman declined to comment, saying the decision was in the hands of the judges. It was not immediately clear whether Bashir had been indicted on all 10 counts of genocide and other war crimes listed by the prosecutor or just some of them.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's office has not been notified by the ICC of its decision, although he expects to receive some form of notification before the end of the month, diplomats and U.N. officials said.

Sudan has ruled out handing over Bashir or two other Sudanese citizens previously indicted by the court for suspected war crimes in Darfur.

Khartoum has said it would continue cooperating with U.N. peacekeepers in Sudan even if Bashir is indicted, but has warned there may be widespread demonstrations of public outrage.

'DIFFICULT SITUATION'

Britain's Africa minister, Mark Malloch Brown, spoke to reporters on Tuesday as if an ICC indictment of Bashir had already been decided. He also expressed the hope the fragile peace process would continue.

"We will face a very difficult situation after this indictment, and I just hope people of goodwill will go on trying to find ways forward," Malloch Brown said.

Sudan's U.N. ambassador, Abdalmahmoud Abdalhaleem, dismissed the decision of the court.

"It will mean nothing to us and doesn't deserve ink with which it is written," he told Reuters. "We will never be shaken by this criminal attempt to pollute our political life and sabotage our efforts for development and peace."

Some U.N. officials worry the Sudanese government might encourage reprisals against international peacekeepers. Ban said on Tuesday that Bashir and his government must "react very responsibly and ensure safety of (U.N.) peacekeepers."

The secretary-general met Bashir on the sidelines of an African Union summit in Addis Ababa last week.

U.N. officials said blue helmet peacekeepers in Darfur had no mandate to act on ICC arrest warrants in Sudan but would go about their business of protecting civilians there. (Editing by Peter Cooney)

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From Times Online Thursday, 12 February 2009
International Criminal Court sets sights on Sudan's Omar al-Bashir:

The International Criminal Court is to issue an arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir over the alleged genocide in Darfur, according to reports.

The move by a panel of judges in The Hague marked the first time that the world's first independent, permanent tribunal on war crimes has sought the detention of a sitting head of state since it began its work in 2002.

According to The New York Times, precise charges cited by the judges against Mr al-Bashir had not been disclosed.

Last year, ICC's chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo asked the court for an arrest warrant for Mr al-Bashir on 10 counts of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in Darfur.

Mr Moreno-Ocampo said last year a military campaign that "purposefully targeted civilians" had been "masterminded" by Mr al-Bashir.

UN officials said the decision on the warrant was communicated to UN chief Ban Ki-moon and was expected to be formally announced at the court in the coming days.

A majority of Security Council members have argued that the case against Mr al-Bashir should go forward, saying he has not done enough to stop the bloodshed in Darfur to deserve a reprieve.

Japan's UN Ambassador Yukio Takasu, the president of the Security Council this month, said: "The council has not been informed yet."

Many African and Arab nations counter that issuing a warrant for Mr al-Bashir's arrest could backfire, diminishing Sudan's willingness to compromise for the sake of peace, The New York Times reported. Others, including some UN officials, worry that a warrant could inspire reprisal attacks against civilians, aid groups or the thousands of international peacekeepers deployed there, the paper said.

Lawyers familiar with the case told the paper the court had already sought to freeze the president's assets but had found his possessions to be hidden behind other names.

Sudan's UN Ambassador Abdalmahmood Abdalhaleem Mohamad said yesterday: "We have not been told about this but it would not be a surprise to us. It does not concern us."

According to the United Nations, 300,000 people have died and more than 2.2 million have fled their homes since rebels in Darfur rose up against the Khartoum government in February 2003. Sudan puts the death toll at 10,000.

Although there has been sporadic fighting in Darfur for decades, the conflict intensified in 2003, when rebel groups demanding greater autonomy for the region attacked Sudanese forces. The Arab-led government responded with a ferocious counterinsurgency, which the court's prosecutor called a genocidal strategy against Darfur's black African ethnic groups.

On Tuesday, Mr Ban urged Khartoum to act "very responsibly" if an arrest warrant is issued for Mr al-Bashir.

The UN chief told a press conference that whatever decision the ICC reached, "it will be very important for President al-Bashir and the Sudanese government to react very responsibly and ensure the safety and security'' of UN peacekeepers (in Darfur) and protect the human rights of the population".

In Washington, the Save Darfur Coalition, an alliance of more than 180 US faith-based, advocacy and human rights organisations, said UN member states must not continue "to do business as usual with al-Bashir once he is an indicted war criminal".

"At a minimum, countries should not allow him to travel to their territory and should limit diplomatic interaction with him in Khartoum to efforts to end the crisis in Darfur and bring peace to all of Sudan," it said.

The group said the Sudanese government should be warned that it would be "held responsible for any pre-emptive or retaliatory action against civilians, humanitarian aid workers, or UN and African Union peacekeeping forces."

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From Deutsche Welle, Germany 12 February 2009 - excerpt:
Reports: ICC Issues Arrest Warrant for Sudanese President

The New York Times and Reuters news agency, citing court lawyers and diplomats, reported Wednesday, Feb. 11, that the International Criminal Court in The Hague would seek the arrest of Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir.

The court has notified United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki- moon that a warrant will be issued, officials at UN headquarters told the Times.

The move has been widely expected by UN insiders and would be made public later this month, Reuters reported.

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From Voice of America by VOA News Thursday, February 12, 2009
International Court To Indict Sudan's President



Photo: Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, left, is flanked by African delegates as he attends a Turkey-Africa Cooperation meeting in Istanbul (AP File/VOA)

U.N. diplomats and officials say judges at the International Criminal Court have decided to indict Sudan's president for war crimes in Darfur.

Officials say on the condition of anonymity that the court will issue an arrest warrant for President Omar al-Bashir. They say the decision will be made public later this month.

It is not clear whether the Hague-based court will indict him on all 10 counts of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes brought by the court's chief prosecutor, Luis Moreno Ocampo.

On Tuesday, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Sudan must cooperate fully with whatever decision the court makes and should ensure the safety of U.N. peacekeepers and civilians in the country.

Sudan has rejected the court's authority. Sudanese officials say the safety of peacekeepers in Sudan is not in jeopardy, buy they say authorities cannot control public outrage if an arrest warrant is issued for the president.

The developments come as a key Darfur rebel group holds peace talks in Qatar with the Sudanese government. The rebels from the Justice and Equality Movement accused Sudan's government Wednesday of undermining the talks by allowing army troops to advance towards rebel positions on the ground in Darfur.

Also Wednesday, key members of the U.S. Congress urged the Obama administration to quickly focus on the situation in Sudan and to appoint a presidential envoy to the country. The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom also called on the administration to help Sudanese leaders implement a fragile peace deal that ended years of fighting between the Khartoum government and southern rebels.

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From Aljazeera.net, Qatar by Al Jazeera and agencies February 12, 2009:
Sudan dismisses Bashir arrest move

Photo: Prosecutors want al-Bashir indicted for orchestrating a "genocide" in Sudan's western Darfur region [AFP]

Sudan's ambassador to the UN has vowed his country will not co-operate with the International Criminal Court (ICC) amid reports it has issued an arrest warrant for Omar al-Bashir, the Sudanese president.

His comments came after an unnamed diplomat at the UN told the Reuters news agency on Wednesday that the ICC had "decided it wants [al-Bashir] arrested".

The New York Times newspaper also earlier reported prosecutors had evidence that al-Bashir had committed war crimes in the country's conflict-ridden Darfur region.

But Abdalmahmoud Abdalhaleem, Sudan's envoy to the UN, told Al Jazeera any arrest warrant against al-Bashir "means nothing to us".

"We are not going to be surprised if this decision is issued today or tomorrow or if it has already been issued," he said.

"Because we know this court is a political court, a politically motivated decision, it will never bother us at all. It means nothing to us. We are in no way going to co-operate with this decision."

'Co-operation' call

ICC prosecutors said last year that they had evidence that al-Bashir had committed war crimes, but the precise charges against the president have not been disclosed.

"We are in no way going to co-operate with this decision" - Abdalmahmoud Abdalhaleem,  Sudan's envoy to the UN

It would be the first time the ICC has sought the detention of a sitting head of state since it was established in 2002.

Al Jazeera's Kristen Saloomey said the UN secretary-general's office had said it had not been notified of any ICC decision and declined to comment.

But Ban Ki-moon, the UN chief, had on Tuesday urged the Sudanese leader to co-operate with the ICC if a warrant is issued.

"He [Bashir] should fully co-operate with whatever decisions the ICC makes," Ban told reporters at the UN headquarters.

'Genocide' rejected

But Abdalhaleem dismissed the ICC as a "hostage to the political will of some powers on the [UN] Security Council".

"If the secretary-general wants us to believe that the court is independent, then he should stop becoming its spokesperson," he said.

Last year Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the chief ICC prosecutor, asked the court's judges to indict al-Bashir for orchestrating what he described as a campaign of genocide in Sudan's western Darfur region in which 35,000 people were killed in 2003 alone.

UN officials say at least 2.5 million were left homeless and have put the death toll as high as 300,000.

Sudan has rejected the use of the term genocide and said 10,000 people died.

The Sudan government has said that it would continue co-operating with UN peacekeepers in the country even if al-Bashir is indicted, but has warned there may be widespread demonstrations of public outrage.

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UPDATE THURSDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2009
See Sudan Watch Thursday, February 12, 2009 New York Times & Reuters were misinformed? ICC says no arrest warrant yet for Sudan's President Al-Bashir (Update 1)

UN/AU mediator Djibril Bassole says a cease-fire will be announced between JEM and Sudan government

February 11, 2009 report from Associated Press (DOHA, Qatar):

Mediator says Darfur cease-fire close

Darfur's most powerful rebel group and the Sudanese government are close to declaring a cease-fire, the U.N. and African Union mediator said Wednesday.

Word from the two warring sides, however, was less optimistic. A spokesman for the rebels accused government forces of advancing toward the group's positions in Darfur even as the talks were under way, and a Sudanese government minister played down the meeting as «preparatory, no more, no less.

A cease-fire between the government and the rebels of the Justice and Equality Movement would be a significant step in easing fighting in Darfur, where rebel groups complaining of discrimination and neglect took up arms against the government in 2003. The six years of fighting has left 300,000 people dead and 2.7 million displaced, according to U.N. figures.

Previous cease-fires have been short-lived. A 2006 peace agreement had limited impact because it was signed by only one rebel group, and the last round of peace talks collapsed in 2007.

The chief mediator at the talks taking place in the Persian Gulf nation of Qatar said a cease-fire could be announced as early as Wednesday.

"A cease-fire will be announced ... between JEM and the government," the mediator, Djibril Bassole, said in a statement released to reporters.

The Justice and Equality Movement is the strongest and most effective of the many Darfur rebel groups. In May, its fighters launched a brazen military assault on the outskirts of Sudan's capital, Khartoum, in the first attack by Darfur rebels on the seat of government.

More recently, the government has been battling the group for control of a town in southern Darfur.

Bassole said mediators were hopeful that an agreement involving the group would encourage other rebel movement's to enter into peace talks.

However, a spokesman for the Justice and Equality Movement who was in Qatar for the talks, Ahmed Hussein, said government troops were moving toward the group's positions east of Jebel Marrah, a region of central Darfur. He said that was a sign the government is not serious about making peace.

Sudanese Culture Minister Amin Hassan Omar acknowledged "hostilities" were still taking place.

"As long as there is no agreement between the two parties there cannot be an order to the armed forces to stop the fighting," said Omar, who was also attending the talks in Qatar's capital, Doha.

He described the talks as «preparatory, no more, no less.

Speaking by phone from Sudan, Noureddine Mezni, a spokesman for Darfur's U.N. and African Union peacekeepers, could not confirm the rebel group's claims of a government advance.

The Justice and Equality Movement was the only rebel group attending the peace talks in Doha, which began Tuesday.

The leader of the absent Sudanese Liberation Movement, Abdelwahed Elnur, characterized the Qatar meeting as an attempt to rescue Sudan's president, who has been accused by a prosecutor for the International Criminal Court of genocide and war crimes in Darfur.

Qatar's prime minister, Sheik Hamad bin Jassem Al Thani, was presiding over talks in Doha, along with officials from the African Union, the Arab League and the joint U.N.-AU mediator.

At Darfur Peace Talks in Doha, JEM rebels set conditions for agreement

February 11, 2009 report from Al-Hayat, London:

The Darfur rebel Justice and Equality Movement yesterday presented its demands for a framework agreement with the Sudan government at bilateral talks in Qatar.

The demands include: preserving the military force of the organization until a final peace agreement is signed; disbanding the pro-government militias and removing them from Darfur; participation in the Sudanese government; and the elimination of Darfur's partition into provinces.

Movement representative Jibril Ibrahim said that the negotiations with the government did not mean concessions on Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir's status in the International Criminal Court.

Sudanese government representative Nafi' Ali Nafi' expressed a positive view of the draft of the agreement submitted to the sides.

(hat tip The Memri Blog)

UNAMID reported influx of 3,000 IDPs at Zam Zam Camp in North Darfur

More than 3,000 people have arrived at the Zam Zam camp for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) near El Fasher in North Darfur, in recent days. Many came from the area around the South Darfur town of Muhajeriya, the scene of recent fighting between Government forces and rebels.

As of yesterday, the total number of new individuals who have arrived at Zam Zam Camp - either by truck or by donkey - stands at 3,054 from 878 households, with a particularly large influx on 8 and 9 February.

The people arriving by donkey hail mostly from Abu Dangal, 30 km west of Shearia in South Darfur and other small villages, while people arriving on trucks are coming from Muhajeriya town, according to the leaders of the new arrivals.

Source: Report from United Nations-African Union Mission in Darfur (El Fasher) 10 February 2009 - Sudan: Influx of IDPs At Zam Zam Camp in North Darfur.

2580 Eritreans sought political asylum in Sudan this year and are being housed in Shegraib refugee camp

The department of information and culture of the Eritrean People’s Party (EPP) said that hundreds of Eritreans continue to flood into the Sudan.

In a statement issued yesterday, EPP indicated that 550 Eritreans fled to Shegraib refugee camp in Sudan in the first week of February alone. Some 64 children under 6 years of age and 181 women are among the Eritreans who flee their country in the period reported, the statement said.

Since the beginning of this year, 2580 Eritreans have sought political asylum in Sudan. They are being housed in Shegraib refugee camp, it was learnt.

Source: Feb. 11, 2009 report from Walta Info - Eritreans continue fleeing to Sudan.

JEM say Sudan forces advancing towards their positions in east Jebel Mara area

Wed Feb 11, 2009 Reuters report by Andrew Heavens in Khartoum - excerpt:

Darfur rebels says Sudan advance undermines talks

Darfur rebels accused Sudanese government forces on Wednesday of advancing towards their positions and undermining peace talks that began in Qatar a day earlier.

Ahmed Hussein Adam, a spokesman for the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), one of the main Darfur rebel factions, said the group was not pulling out of talks for now.

"We are studying the situation closely. We have contacted the mediators. We will see what takes place in the coming hours," he said by telephone, adding that the Sudanese forces were advancing in the east Jebel Mara area.

There was no immediate comment from the army.

The talks in Qatar are the first since 2007 between the government and JEM, which launched an unprecedented attack on Khartoum last year and has been involved in a recent upsurge of fighting.

Other factions have said the talks in Qatar will fail because they are not all included.[...]

ICC's new blog "In Situ" - On Darfur, Libya vows opposition to UK Draft

The ICC has a new blog, "In Situ," described as an "endeavor to help bridge the gap between populations affected by the crimes under the Court's investigation and the ICC's daily activities at its headquarters in The Hague.

Source: Tuesday, February 10, 2009 report from Inner City by Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at the UN:

On Darfur, Libya Vows Opposition to UK Draft As ICC Is Celebrated with Warm Beer, Backwash of Good Intentions

The United Kingdom circulated a draft Darfur statement Tuesday afternoon in the Security Council. Libya immediately denounced it, for failing to include a suggested paragraph noting the African Union's call on the Council to suspend the International Criminal Court's proceedings against Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir. A Libya delegate told Inner City Press that Uganda and Burkina Faso are solidly behind the paragraph, but that Russia and China had been surprisingly quiet in the consultations.

Hours later, just across First Avenue from the UN, a celebration of the ICC features a jazz trio, cold Heineken beer and Philippe Kirsch, the retiring ICC president. Kirsch had without explanation cancelled his scheduled media availability on Tuesday afternoon. A human rights watcher in the half-light explained that as a judge, Kirsch felt it better not to speak. But why then was it scheduled? The watcher, told that the controversy around the impending indictment of Bashir was already gumming up the Council's day to day work of issuing statements of outrage many days after military actions, blamed it on the Libyans.

But they are only asking for recognition of the position of the African Union, which they now head up. The watcher said, not all AU countries feel the same. But while not all European Union countries totally agree with that Union's position, once it is adopted, the members follow it. But when Africans follow suit, they are called irresponsible.



Photo: ICC's Kirsch, blog description of Moreno-Ocampo's controversies not shown

Distributed at the Coalition for the ICC's event -- an annual celebration, the watcher pointed out -- was a flyer for a new pseudo-grassroots blog, "In Situ," described as an "endeavor to help bridge the gap between populations affected by the crimes under the Court's investigation and the ICC's daily activities at its headquarters in The Hague... opening blog discussion on the Court's first trial in the case of The Prosecutor vs. Thomas Lubanga Dyilo."

But will the blog describe how the attempt to screen the Lubanga trial in the DR Congo results in rioting, and push back from Lubanga's group? Will the activities in the Hague include the controversies surrounding Luis Moreno Ocampo, the prosecutor? In the half-light, with soft jazz, there was only the backwash of good intentions.

- - -

From Inner City Press by Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at the UN February 10, 2009:

Darfur Statement Blocked in UN Council By Bashir Indictment Language

The politics of war crimes charges against Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir are now blocking passage of a statement about Darfur in the UN Security Council, sources tell Inner City Press. The United Kingdom drafted a so-called Presidential Statement about the stand-off around the South Darfur town of Mahajiriya. But the Council's three African members, supported by Russia and China, proposed including a paragraph taking note of the African Union's position that the International Criminal Court's proceedings against Bashir should be suspended.

France, the Council sources say, called this paragraph controversial. The UK made a direct bilateral outreach to China, asking they back down on the paragraph. The Chinese mission to the UN reportedly said that their instructions from Beijing were to follow, and insist on a Council reference to, the African Union. The UK draft PRST, the sources say, is dead.

UN's Ban and Sudan's al-Bashir: can these meetings continue?

Ban Ki-moon was asked on Tuesday if he would meet with Bashir if he is indicted. While this question must already be answered, Ban said he would wait and get advice from his top lawyer Patricia O'Brien. An African diplomat told Inner City Press, "Ban couldn't stop meeting with Bashir, he has two peacekeeping missions there." For now...

The International Criminal Court's president Philippe Kirsch had been slated to take questions from the Press on Tuesday at 4:25, but midday Tuesday the stakeout chance was cancelled. ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo is said to be in New York -- but where? And why? Some say it is not only about Bashir, but also to fight against a proposal, at the ICC members' February 12 meeting, to establish an office to oversee his and the Court's work, based on this document. Watch this site.

South Sudan disarmament begins

Southern Sudan is trying to recover from decades of war. Report from BBC Tuesday, 10 February 2009:

South Sudan disarmament begins

The world's biggest operation to demobilise soldiers and militias has started in Sudan, the UN says.

Some 180,000 men, women and children who fought in the civil war between north and south are to return to civilian life over the next four years.

The demobilisation was agreed under the Comprehensive Peace Agreement signed in 2005 to end the 21-year conflict.
It was officially launched in Blue Nile State with the disarmament of 15 adults and is now to be rolled out elsewhere.

BBC Sudan correspondent Amber Henshaw says some critics have questioned the whether there is sufficient political will to see the reintegrate ex-soldiers and militias through.

The north-south conflict cost an estimated 1.5 million lives and ended in the setting up of an autonomous secular government in the south.

Politicians representing the north and south are now in a fragile power-sharing coalition government.

As part of the 2005 deal, nationwide elections are due to take place this year, to be followed in 2011 by a referendum on whether the south should secede.

Darfur rebels pour scorn on new Sudan talks in Doha, Qatar

Tue Feb 10, 2009 7:11am EST Reuters report by Andrew Heavens, Khartoum:

Darfur factions pour scorn on new Sudan talks

Darfur factions poured scorn on new talks between Sudan's government and a single rebel group on Tuesday, saying the meeting would fail because it excluded other movements.

Discussions between Sudan's government and Darfur's powerful rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) started in Qatar on Tuesday morning, the first time the warring sides have officially sat down together since 2007.

Officials present said both sides made opening statements saying they would discuss confidence-building measures that could pave the way to full peace negotiations.

But the criticisms from other Darfur factions underlined the huge challenge facing mediators trying to end Darfur's conflict involving government troops and an increasingly fractious array of rebels, militias, bandits and tribal groups.

Minni Arcua Minnawi, the only rebel to sign a troubled peace deal with the government in the Nigerian city of Abuja in 2006, told reporters the new Qatar talks would be "a major disaster".

"If the Abuja agreement was lacking then what is happening in Qatar is lacking even further," said Minnawi.

The 2006 accord is widely believed to have failed because no other groups signed it.

Suleiman Jamous, a senior member of the rebel Sudan Liberation Army's Unity faction said Khartoum and mediators had mistakenly concluded JEM was the biggest rebel group in Darfur.

"The government has ignored the other groups....It will be the same as what happened with Minnawi," he told Reuters.

The head of the insurgent United Resistance Front faction Bahar Idriss Abu Garda said the sole involvement of JEM proved mediators behind the talks were not impartial. "How can you be neutral and call one movement for negotiations," he said.

The Qatar talks have already been dismissed by SLA founder Abdel Wahed Mohamed Ahmed al-Nur, who is refusing to negotiate before the end of violence in Darfur.

JEM DEFENCE

JEM defended its presence. "We are the only people who are engaged militarily or politically with the government in terms of opposing the regime," said spokesman Ahmed Hussein Adam.

"If these people are ready for peace, we are ready for peace. But if they are not, our options are open."

JEM has launched a number of headline-grabbing campaigns in Darfur, attacking Khartoum in May and seizing one of Minnawi's strongholds in south Darfur last month.

Adam added JEM's leader Khalil Ibrahim was planning to fly from Chad to Doha later on Tuesday to attend the discussions as "a gesture of good will".

Adam said JEM would pull out of the session if there was any sign that Khartoum was using the talks to deflect a looming International Criminal Court war crimes case against Sudan's president.

The chief prosecutor of the global court has asked judges to issue an arrest warrant against Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, accusing him of masterminding genocide in Darfur.

The court's judges are expected to rule on his request in the coming weeks.

International experts say 200,000 have died and 2.7 million been driven from their homes since JEM and other rebels took up arms against Khartoum in 2003, accusing it of neglecting the development of the region.

DR Congo: New LRA attacks force Congolese to flee to Southern Sudan

Report from United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
Date: 10 Feb 2009:

DR Congo: New LRA attacks force Congolese to flee to Southern Sudan

This is a summary of what was said by UNHCR spokesperson Ron Redmond – to whom quoted text may be attributed – at the press briefing, on 10 February 2009, at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.

At least six people were killed and another 21 kidnapped Saturday night in an attack by the Ugandan rebel group, the Lord's resistance Army (LRA), on the town of Aba in the north-eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The LRA rebels also plundered the local Protestant parish and hospital.

This latest attack sent thousands of Congolese fleeing to Southern Sudan. According to our team in Southern Sudan, some 5,000 Congolese refugees from Alba arrived over the weekend in the town of Lasu, some 50 kms from the DRC border. They said thousands more are on the way. The refugees told UNHCR staff in Lasu on Sunday that 90 per cent of Aba's 100,000 population had fled the town and many more could be expected to arrive in Southern Sudan in the next few days. Our team witnessed large concentrations of refugees in three locations along the Lasu-Yei road. The new arrivals are occupying schools and church buildings along the road.

People in DRC's north-eastern Oriental province have been exposed to brutal and deadly attacks by the LRA since last September. A rough estimate of the total number of people forcefully displaced since then now stands at almost 150,000. Some 900 Congolese have been killed by the Ugandan rebel group over the past five months in the north-east.

Meanwhile, our team in Dungu, a regional centre in the Haut Uele territory of the north-east DRC, trained 60 local Red Cross officials and others on conducting a re-registration exercise in the neighbouring villages around Dungu. The aim of the exercise is to obtain more accurate information about the displaced population and their intentions.

Relative calm is returning to areas around Dungu and our partners report the first signs of return to a number of villages north of the town. We continue to rush aid to the area. Over the weekend a second convoy of 14 trucks brought another shipment of plastic sheeting, blankets, sleeping mats, kitchen sets and soaps. These aid items will be distributed to the displaced population sheltering in the villages south of Dungu.

Qatari hosts sent a plane to JEM's Khalil Ibrahim rear-base in Chad to collect him to join Darfur peace talks later on Tuesday

February 10, 2009 AFP report from Doha, Qatar:

Sudan in first peace talks with Darfur rebels since 2007

A Sudanese government delegation met Darfur rebels from the Justice and Equality Movement in the Qatari capital on Tuesday for their first peace contacts since 2007.

The most heavily armed of the Darfur rebel groups, the JEM boycotted a largely abortive peace deal signed by one other faction in 2006 and in May last year launched an unprecedented assault on the Sudanese capital.

JEM representative Jibril Ibrahim said the new contacts could only pave the way for substantive peace negotiations if the government was prepared to accept the winding up of allied Arab militias in Darfur and allow high-level rebel representation in the central government.

"The appropriate order for our negotiations must be the following -- start by adopting confidence-building measures and making a declaration of good intentions and then address the key bones of contention," Ibrahim said.

He said confidence-building measures should include the release of JEM prisoners and the expansion of aid deliveries to rebel-held areas.

He said the rebel group expected to "retain its fighters during a transition period ahead of a final peace deal which would provide for their integration in the regular army."

The JEM also wanted to secure "a reduction in government troop numbers, the dismantlement of the militias and high-level participation in the central government in Khartoum."

The head of the government delegation, presidential aide Nafie Ali Nafie, renewed "Sudan's determination to continue down the path of peace."

Mediators have stressed that the Doha talks are preliminary and intended to pave the way for a broader peace conference on Darfur.

They have drawn up a working draft to act as the basis of negotiations but Nafie said the government would be seeking "modifications".

Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem al-Khalifa told the opening session that he hoped that "other Darfur rebel groups would join the negotiations" that the Doha talks are designed to prepare.

In a boost to the talks, the JEM announced that its leader Khalil Ibrahim -- Jibril's brother -- would be joining the talks later on Tuesday and that the Qatari hosts had sent a plane to his rear-base in Chad to collect him.

Darfur rebels have been critical of Arab-led peace efforts in the past, saying they were designed to save Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir from international court proceedings for alleged war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity in the western region.

One rebel group -- the Sudan Liberation Movement faction of Paris-based exile Abdel Wahid Mohammed Nur -- has refused all talks with Khartoum while the International Criminal Court decides whether to accept a recommendation by prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo to issue an arrest warrant for Beshir.

Jibril Ibrahim stressed that the JEM's participation in the Doha talks did not mean that the rebel group was abandoning its own calls for the ICC to continue its proceedings against Beshir.

Nafie said any move by the court to issue an unprecedented international arrest warrant against a sitting head of state would be a "negative sign" for the search for peace in Darfur.

The United Nations says about 300,000 people have been killed in Darfur since ethnic minority rebels took up arms against the Arab-dominated Khartoum government in 2003, complaining of discrimination.

Sudan says 10,000 people have died, and denies charges that its soldiers and allied Janjaweed militiamen have committed war crimes and genocide in Darfur.