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African diplomats seek support for Sudanese leader

African envoys sought support on Wednesday from Russia and China for ways to let Sudan’s president dodge a global court’s Darfur war crimes charges.

“The search for justice should not jeopardize the other priorities in Sudan,” South African Ambassador Dumisani Kumalo said.

The UN Security Council’s private discussions took place against a backdrop of fresh violence.

Gunmen in the troubled Sudanese region of Darfur shot and killed another UN-African Union (AU) peacekeeper on Wednesday, just as the council voted to condemn the killing of seven Darfur peacekeepers a week ago as a possible war crime.

Sudan, South Africa and China expressed concern that indicting Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir could further damage the peace process, diplomats said.

Some Western diplomats and UN officials also say they fear an arrest warrant against al-Bashir could unleash reprisals against the peacekeeping mission in Darfur, known as UNAMID.

But to many, that peace process already is withering, and the mission has virtually no peace to keep.

“The peace process has been stalled for the last few months,” British Ambassador John Sawers said. “There’s an urgent need for renewed effort on the peace process side. And UNAMID can only ever deliver on its mission properly once there is a peace to keep.”

International Criminal Court prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo filed 10 charges on Monday against al-Bashir related to a campaign of extermination the UN says has claimed 300,000 lives and driven 2.5 million people from their homes.

Moreno-Ocampo, based at The Hague, Netherlands, said survivors are preyed upon by government-backed janjaweed Arab militia and regular troops. It could take judges months to rule on whether to issue an arrest warrant.

The Sudanese ambassador said some African diplomats were discussing with China and Russia ways of persuading the 15-nation Security Council to block Moreno-Ocampo’s work for a year. Neither China’s nor Russia’s diplomats commented publicly on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, more than 1,000 protesters gathered outside the republican palace in Khartoum yesterday, shouting death to the world court prosecutor for seeking al-Bashir’s arrest.

Shouting “God is Great” and “Go Forward Bashir” students and Arab tribesmen from western Sudan’s war-torn region of Darfur angrily condemned allegations that the head of state was guilty of genocide and war crimes.
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