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 Re: المدعى العام للجنايات الدولية يطلب اعتقال 3 من قادة التمرد بدارفور (Re: عبد العظيم احمد)
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المصدر/ اسوشيتد برس
Int'l court prosecutor seeks Darfur rebels' arrest
By MIKE CORDER – 5 hours ago
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — After accusing Sudan's president of genocide, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court sought arrest warrants Thursday for three anti-government rebel leaders accused of a deadly attack on African Union peacekeepers in northern Darfur.
Luis Moreno-Ocampo alleged the rebel commanders planned and led an attack in September 2007 by about 1,000 heavily armed rebels on the Haskanita camp in Sudan's Darfur region that left 12 peacekeepers dead and eight wounded.
He has accused the rebels of committing war crimes, including murder, pillaging and deliberately attacking peacekeepers.
Rights groups welcomed the announcement as a sign that the international community will not tolerate attacks on peacekeepers.
"Civilians rely on peacekeepers for protection, and any hope for restoring security for civilians in Darfur depends on peacekeepers being able to do their job," Richard Dicker, director of the International Justice Program at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement.
The suspects' names were not released.
"They know who they are," Moreno-Ocampo told The Associated Press in an interview.
African Union peacekeepers told the AP at the time of the attack that they suspected a splinter group from the Sudan Liberation Army called SLA-Unity.
"There are rumors, but now we have strong evidence and we know exactly (who was responsible)," Moreno-Ocampo said.
SLA-Unity chiefs denied involvement. They initially blamed the attack on another rebel group — the Justice and Equality Movement — and now insist government forces were to blame.
Suleiman Jamous, a leading member of SLA-Unity, said his group is innocent and if named would go to court to prove its innocence.
"If we are asking (Sudanese President Omar) al-Bashir to hand himself in, then there is no reason we should stand in the face of justice when it is our turn," he said from Slovenia.
"We have evidence to prove that the government did it," Jamous said.
The rebels ransacked and looted the camp, according to a four-page summary of the case released publicly.
A more detailed package of evidence has been sent to judges who will study it and decide whether to issue arrest warrants.
Jerry Fowler, president of the Save Darfur coalition of nongovernment groups, applauded Moreno-Ocampo's move.
"All actors in Sudan must recognize this fundamental truth: those who obstruct peace, security and lasting stability and who target civilians must be held to account," Fowler said.
The rebel attack came amid a government offensive that had been raging for two weeks in the same region.
Jamous said his fighters were clashing with government forces about 20 miles (30 kilometers) from Haskanita at the time of the attack.
Sudanese government troops are now based in Haskanita.
In July, Moreno-Ocampo asked judges to issue an arrest warrant for al-Bashir on genocide charges, accusing him of orchestrating atrocities including rape and murder of civilians in refugee camps.
The court last year issued arrest warrants for a Sudanese government minister and for a commander in the government-backed janjaweed militia, which has been blamed for most of the atrocities in Darfur.
Khartoum does not recognize the court and has refused to turn over any suspects to face international justice.
About 300,000 people have died and 2.5 million have been forced from their homes in five years of fighting in Darfur.
Moreno-Ocampo's latest case is the first to target rebels in the Darfur conflict and also the court's first to accuse suspects of attacking peacekeepers.
"It is very important," he said. "Attacking peacekeepers is another way to affect the civilians ... it is an indirect way of attacking civilians."
Associated Press Writer Sarah El Deeb in Khartoum, Sudan, contributed to this report.
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عبد العظيم احمد
عبدالله الشقليني
معتصم احمد صالح
فيس بوك
تويتر
انستقرام
يوتيوب
بنتيريست