THE HAGUE: International war crimes prosecutors Wednesday warned Sudanese President Omar Al-Beshir, who was visiting Egypt, that there was no way of escape as long as he is the subject of an arrest warrant.
We want all political leaders who might meet Omar Al-Beshir to explain to him there is no possible way out, said a member of the office of Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor, in The Hague.
Arresting him is a process that will take time, he said, emphasizing that the office was monitoring the movements of the Sudanese leader who met his Egyptian counterpart Hosni Mubarak Wednesday.
There can be no question of business as usual with someone who is the subject of an arrest warrant on charges of such crimes, according to the office of the prosecutor.
Al-Beshir s visit to Cairo was the second trip abroad he has undertaken since the ICC issued a warrant for his arrest on March 4, accusing him of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur in western Sudan where a civil war has been in progress since 2003.
On Thursday, he left to Ethiopia, his third trip since the warrant.
Arab League and African Union members have criticized the issuing of the warrant.
Eritrea, Ethiopia and Egypt are not parties to the Rome treaty that created the ICC, the world s first permanent war crimes tribunal, and have never been likely to take any action against Beshir.
The ICC does not have a police force and calls on signatory states to implement warrants. However, all United Nations member states are urged to cooperate with The Hague-based court.
Even the United States, where the administration of former president George W. Bush described the Darfur conflict as genocidal, said on Tuesday it was under no legal obligation to arrest Al-Beshir as it was not a signatory to the Rome statute. -AFP
