Court eyes arrest of al-Bashir

Hurriyet Daily News with wires

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The chief prosecutor for the ICC, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, has been collecting strong evidence of President al-Bashir’s involvement in war crimes, he told reporters yesterday. The decision of the judges is set to be announced today at a press conference in The Hague, the seat of the international court.

Turkey came under fire from human rights organizations for twice welcoming the Sudanese president in 2008.

Last month, al-Bashir's deputy Ali Osman Mohammed Taha was in Ankara, and talks with the prime minister and Parliament speaker were kept at a low-profile. Press reports revealed Taha was seeking Turkey's support to save al-Bashir from trial in The Hague.

"We have more than 30 different witnesses who will present how (al-Bashir) managed and controlled everything," Moreno-Ocampo said.

In July last year, Moreno-Ocampo asked a pre-trial chamber to issue a warrant for Bashir's arrest on 10 counts of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.

If the judges dismiss his application for an arrest warrant in its entirety, he will appeal. If they approve the application only partly, he will analyze the reasoning before deciding how to proceed.

He reiterated his allegation Tuesday, that genocide was being committed in camps for people displaced from their villages in Darfur.

If the warrant is granted and an arrest carried out, the 65-year-old al-Beshir would become the first head of state to be hauled before the ICC since the court was established in 2002.

Al- Bashir on the other hand said he regarded any decision by the ICC on whether to seek his arrest would be worthless. "Any decision by the International Criminal Court has no value for us," Bashir said at the inauguration of a dam.