Algeria considers probe delay
2008-09-17 14:57
Algiers - Algeria and Sudan may ask the UN Security Council to delay war crimes proceedings against Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, Algeria's foreign minister said on Wednesday in a radio interview.
Foreign Minister Mourad Medelci told national radio that Sudan and Algeria have been consulting for months on the "very unfortunate" war crimes charges sought by the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in July.
After meeting on Tuesday with a Sudanese delegation, Medelci said in the interview broadcast on Wednesday that discussions between the two countries covered the option of asking the 15-member Security Council to freeze the proceedings.
The council can defer for one year, renewable, any investigation or prosecution by the ICC.
Such a move would require a majority of nine votes, including the concurring votes of all five Security Council permanent members.
Quoted by Algerian media agency APS, Medelci also said delaying the proceedings would "allow us to gain the confidence that justice will be restored for Sudan, its people and its president".
Potential charges
Following preliminary investigations, ICC chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo asked the court for an arrest warrant for Bashir on charges of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur.
Sudan has been working hard to ward off potential charges from the ICC, drumming up support from the AU and the Arab League.
It is sending a top-level delegation headed by Vice President Ali Osman Taha to the UN General Assembly opening in New York later this month.
According to the UN, up to 300 000 people have died in Darfur and more than 2.2 million have fled their homes since rebels rose up against Khartoum in February 2003. Sudan says 10&nsbp;000 people have been killed.