Wednesday, February 25, 2009

GADDAFI OPPOSES DARFUR INDICTMENT

Col. Muammar Gaddafi Libya President cum African Union Head
TRIPOLI: African Union Newly Elected Head, Muammar Gaddafi has strongly opposed attempts by the International Criminal Court (ICC) to indict Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir on charges relating to the conflict in western Sudan’s Darfur region.
"Why do we have to hold President Bashir or the Sudanese government responsible when the Darfur problem was caused by outside parties, and Tel Aviv (Israel), for example, is behind the Darfur crisis?. It is not a secret. We have found evidence proving clearly that foreign forces are behind the Darfur problem and are fanning its fire," Gaddafi said, according to the Libyan state news agency Jana.
"We discovered that some of the main leaders of the Darfur rebels have opened offices in Tel Aviv and hold meetings with the military there to add fuel to the conflict fire." he added.
Mostly non-Arab rebels took up arms against Sudan's government in 2003, accusing it of neglecting the Darfur region. Khartoum mobilised mostly Arab militias to crush the rebellion.
International experts say the fighting has killed 200,000 people and uprooted 2.7 million. Sudan's government denies any genocide, saying that 10,000 have been killed and that Western media exaggerate the conflict.
Judges from the International Criminal Court are due to announce on March 4 whether they will issue a warrant for the arrest of Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir over allegations that he masterminded genocide in Sudan's Darfur region. U.N. diplomats have told Reuters the warrant will be issued.
Courtesy: Reuters, The Star and CNSNews

No comments:

Post a Comment