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London: Charges of committing genocide and war crimes levelled against Sudanese President Omar Al Bashir by the prosecutor general of the International Criminal Court (ICC) are "illegal" and politically motivated under pressure from the United States, according to a prominent expert in international law.
"This act by the prosecutor is illegal in many respects. First of all ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo's decision should have been given to the court in the first chamber to view it first. Secondly he released his decision to the press before submitting it and thirdly it had been declared public by the US state department," Dr Abdullah Al Asha'al, Professor of international law at Cairo University, told Gulf News in an interview.
Moreno-Ocampo on Monday asked the court for an arrest warrant for Al Bashir, accusing him of running a campaign of genocide that has killed 35,000 people and forced 2.5 million to flee their homes in Sudan's western region of Darfur.
It is the first time the court issued a request to arrest a sitting president. "This is very interesting precedent and indicates that there is a lot of politicisation of the court," Dr Al Asha'al said.
"The US has been trying to put its hands on Sudan through the Darfur issue [for a longtime], and it was the US that invoked the issue of Darfur at the UN Security Council, which adopted many resolutions based on chapter 7 of the UN charter. All of them were aimed at putting pressure on Sudan. And now the US is manipulating the court's powers," he added.
Sudan viewed the ICC's move as "irresponsible, illegal and unprofessional," according to Vice-President Ali Osman Mohammad Taha.
China on Tuesday expressed "grave concern"| over the ICC move, saying it would undermine peace efforts in Darfur.
Egypt, the largest Arab country, also warned against dealing with Sudan "irresponsibly," saying it could lead to a breakdown of security and political stability, particularly in Darfur, and called for a political solution.
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