Johannesburg (dpa) – The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant Thursday for Sudanese Defense Minister Abdel Raheem Muhammad Hussein. The warrant is for 20 counts of crimes against humanity and 21 counts of war crimes, allegedly committed in the restive western Darfur region of the country while he was interior minister from 2001 to 2005. Hussein was deemed to have made “essential contributions” to criminal acts carried out when government-backed militias attacked villages, according to a statement from the court. Luis Moreno-Ocampo, then chief prosecutor of the ICC, had in late 2011 asked judges for the warrant for the crimes, allegedly committed in 2003 and 2004. The UN says some 300,000 people have been killed in Darfur since a rebellion, met by a heavy handed counter insurgency, started in early 2003. Khartoum says only thousands have died and charges that other figures are politically motivated. While Qatar negotiated a peace deal for the region, only one minor Darfur rebel group is on board, along with the Sudanese government. The new warrant comes amid separate, fresh tensions along the border between Sudan and the newly independent South Sudan, which broke away from Khartoum in 2011. The south says the northern air force is bombing deep inside its territory and that ground troops have crossed the poorly defined border in recent days. The countries have yet to agree on mapping out their border, with three key provinces' fate not yet decided, and they are failing to reach a deal on sharing oil revenue. The south took about two-thirds of the country's oil reserves when it split, though new drilling prospects have recently emerged in Darfur. While sporadic attacks still continue, thousands of refugees have begun to go home to the western region, as stability increases. The Hague-based court also has arrest warrants out for Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir and five other top officials, also in connection with Darfur. The warrant has limited their ability to travel internationally, though some key allies, including China, have disregarded the court's request. Malawi was recently harshly criticized by the United Nations for allowing al-Bashir to attend a high-level trade summit. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/AUBco Tags: Defense Minister, ICC, Sudan, Warrant Section: Human Rights, Latest News, Sudan
